19 09, 2019

Our Equity Journey

2021-05-20T17:41:25-04:00September 19th, 2019|Tags: , , |

by Natalie Spriggs, Director of Programs Here at Peace Learning Center, the staff spend a lot of time discussing and analyzing equity.  If folks are talking about peace, equity must be part of the conversation AND the conversation has to be more than a check box of “we talked about it, now we are good.” What does equity look like here at Peace Learning Center? This is the question staff at PLC continually ask.  One of the places PLC has landed is how to work from a place of consensus, where power is shared, especially in decision-making.  One example of how PLC moved to a place of consensus in decision-making is moving from administration team meetings to full staff meetings.  Before, large decisions were being made by those in power, administration, with no other staff “at the table”.  PLC now has full staff meetings in place of administration meetings where information and decision-making is shared between all staff. Equity also looks like analyzing all that PLC does through an anti-racist lens.  For example, when looking at policies we analyze: Who wrote the policy? Who does this policy benefit? Is this policy fair? Why does this policy exist? etc.  PLC opened the policy discussion by starting out with the full staff reviewing the policy handbook. This was a long process, and is not done yet, but it ensures that everyone’s voice has a chance to be heard. Peace Learning Center

24 07, 2017

A Fulfilling Summer Experience for an Intern

2021-05-20T17:41:44-04:00July 24th, 2017|Tags: , , , |

You may be familiar with the lyrics of a 1985 Whitney Huston song called The Greatest Love of All, “I believe that children are our future. Teach them well and let them lead the way. Show them all the beauty they possess inside …” I really believe in the message of this song. To make the biggest change on our world, it starts with our children. Because of this belief (and even as a grown woman), I decided to go back to school and become a school teacher. I learned about Peace Learning Center through a program called The Journey Fellowship. As a Journey Fellow Student, I needed to work as an intern at any location of my choosing that was somehow connected to youth work. When I heard about Peace Learning Center and all that it had to offer to our communities, I applied immediately! It seemed too good to be true. A place that values children as not only part of the community but also as leaders in our community! This not only aligned with how I view the world and children, but it validated that we are in sync with something bigger. Through my summer here I not only received amazing Professional Development trainings, the opportunity to participate in community events, connections with other amazing forward thinking youth focused organizations, but I have received much more in watching the youth of our community grow to understand

19 06, 2017

Our Newest Staff Member, Maria Ruiz

2021-05-20T17:41:44-04:00June 19th, 2017|Tags: , , |

I am the newest member at PLC as a Youth Development Facilitator Spanish Specialist. I first joined PLC as an intern in September 2016 through April 2017, then officially became a member of the PLC family June 1, 2017. I graduated in May 2017 with my Bachelor of Social Work and was excited to start my career somewhere where I already knew their mission firsthand and somewhere where I felt welcomed. During my time as an intern, I was able to get the best of both worlds by engaging with students in schools doing proactive circles and facilitating field trips at PLC. One field trip that stands out to me out of the many I facilitated was a Peace Mentor’s Day. On these days PLC has volunteers come out and facilitate field trips while PLC’s facilitators are there for support. On this day one student was afraid to go downstairs to the lower level to the Be the Change museum. I spoke to him and was able to have him sit by me for that session. Little did I know that he was gravitated to me and stood by my side for the rest of the sessions. That example made me realize that a small thing to one can be something huge to another. In this instance, the kindergarten student was afraid to go somewhere, but then faced his fear with a little help from me and then stayed with

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