Last week, we reported on a Peace Pole that was installed at Springfield’s Bob Keefer Center. It turns out, another peace pole has stood in Springfield for more than 25 years.
Former Centennial Elementary Principal Stan Paine said the pole was installed at the school following the 1998 Thurston High School shootings.
“A 10-year-old girl started it as a Girl Scout project," he told KLCC. "She wanted to do something to reinforce the message of peace and the importance of solving our problems peacefully. So this is a project that she came up with, and we said 'that’s a great idea.' We built a couple of benches where kids could sit and we had a little format, they could talk out their problems.”
Paine said students reported their solutions to the school office. The peace pole is blue, and painted with the word “Peace” in four languages. It remains in the courtyard at Centennial and is still used today.
Current Principal Don Hakala said the school also recites a Peace Pledge every Wednesday, as it has since the late ‘90s. “We just have to keep that going," he said, "because it’s a great reminder of how to treat people with respect and kindness that started so long ago and is still so true today.”
Paine said both traditions were student initiated. He says Centennial graduates sometimes stop him in the street and say the Peace Pledge for him. He said thousands of students have recited the pledge, and he believes it’s had an impact on people and how they treat others.
Centennial’s Peace Pledge:
To honor those students who have lost their lives to school violence, the students of Centennial School pledge to be violence free. We will not be verbally or physically mean to others. We will not gossip or spread rumors. We will respect everybody and their abilities. We will show respect by using kindness.
