Giving Peace Day a Chance

It started as a small and modest idea.

A couple of sketched swastikas on a class test five years ago got an English teacher at a school “in the middle of nowhere” thinking, “Peace. We need more peace, tolerance, less violence.”

But never did Bruce Galler, a teacher at Challenger Middle School near Lancaster, imagine that his idea for an “Increase the Peace Day” would be discussed by the U.S. House of Representatives.

After 14 students and a teacher died in a shooting rampage at Columbine High School last year, Galler recruited a few students to put together a petition designating April 20--the date of the shooting--as a national peace day at American schools, and soon the idea had the backing of local officials. Rep. Howard P. “Buck” McKeon (R-Santa Clarita) heard about it, and from there the idea traveled from the Antelope Valley to Washington.

A week ago, McKeon introduced HR507, a resolution written by the teacher and students designating a national peace day. The bill was referred to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce for hearings.

Today, Galler, four other adults and 19 Challenger students will fly to Washington to talk to members of Congress about the project. The group plans to meet with the staffs of California Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer and give them more copies of the petition, Galler said.

He envisions schools nationwide celebrating Increase the Peace Day by bringing in speakers and holding other events that promote tolerance.

“Every school in the country should have a similar program,” said David Foy, a spokesman for McKeon. “We would like to get it passed as soon as we can.”

McKeon said, “I promised to introduce this resolution to show that as one member of Congress, I can do something to highlight this important event and encourage all Americans to reject anger and hate and instead to promote peace and community.”

Galler and the students had circulated petitions at supermarkets, government meetings, schools and neighborhoods throughout the Antelope Valley, eventually gathering 1,000 signatures.

“It just started growing bigger and bigger,” said Courtney Steinwachs, 13.

Galler said schools, especially in the Antelope Valley, an area hit by recent hate crimes, need a day like this to remind students that hate crimes hurt entire communities.

For now, Galler and his students are waiting to see if their idea becomes a reality.

“Can you imagine if it does?” he asked. “This small school in the middle of nowhere would have a national impact. We want issues to be tackled head on. We want young people to understand that the choices we make affect many, many others.”

Galler said he decided to take action while collecting English tests in one of his classes. He said he was shocked to find swastika drawings and other racist remarks on two papers.

This was a small and diverse school of no more than 650 students in the remote community of Lake Los Angeles--”a place where everybody knows everybody,” he said. “Yet, there it was, a swastika staring at me, right in the face.”

Instead of expelling the students, Galler sought to make them understand that their actions hurt others. He talked to their parents and sat down with the students to watch “Schindler’s List,” a movie about the Holocaust.

“I have seen [those students] change,” he said. “Promoting peace is not a magical wand that is going to solve everything. We can only give them the tools to change. This could be the beginning of a solution.”

His students agree. He took a group to Littleton, Colo., in April to meet with survivors of the Columbine shooting there. They saw a somber town, trying to recover one day at a time, he said. They saw young people who lost the sparkle in their eyes and their smiles.

“I learned not to take life for granted,” said Ashley Smith, 13, one of the students who made the trip. “You never know when you are going to have a person come to school and shoot you.”

During the visit they exchanged dirt and upon their return planted what they call the “peace garden” at Challenger Middle School. Students say they often go to the 20-by-40-foot grassy area to reflect and have a quiet moment by themselves.

“The garden is here to remind us of our goal, promote peace, also out of respect for Columbine,” said school Principal Kevin Wassner. Students who will be traveling with Galler today said they would like to show the world that not all teens are prone to violence, and they can do small things to make schools and cities better, more peaceful places.

“We don’t want the kids in Columbine to have died in vain,” said 14-year-old Sonya Arellano.

“We feel like real proud,” said Juan Zamora, 13. “We just don’t want shootings in other places.”