Peace Camp 2010
July 6th to July 10th
What is Peace Camp
War is not just in the Middle East, it's at home, in our own communities.
students ticked above 50% nationwide. Military recruiters have set up shop on high school campuses to lure our brothers and sisters, sons and daughters, to kill and fight and die on the other side of the world.
But it doesn't have to be this way.
What if we, the young people, got together to decide our own future?. What if we had the tools to shape how the world looks today? Would we fight wars of aggression? Would we destroy the environment to the point of global crisis? No Way!
Peace Camp aims to give young people those tools and skills to make the world a better place. In a fun and friendly week long workshop held in the woods, campers will build practical skills and meet new friends in concerned students just like them. Campers leave with a sense of optimism, having learned how they can really speak their peace!
Curriculum
Why War?
A two part presentation by counter recruitment, labor and peace and justice activists on the devastating changes caused by a policy of endless war.
Organizing and Building the Movement
The basics for running an effective peace group, including communication skills, delegating responsibility and following through.
Drum Circle
Everybody has their own beat, their own voice. How can we work together to make a powerful rhythm?
Poetry and Spoken Word
Express yourself in a safe environment, use language as a tool for empowerment.
Art/Publicity Workshop
Get Creative, make posters and T-shirts for next year.
Peope Are Talking.......
Amarisa Gonzalez is past president of the Lynwood Art and Peace Club, Amarisa currently a student at Cerritos College, a 2009 Peacemaker of the Year and a director of South Bay Youth 4 Peace.
What was your experience with your High School Peace Club? Peace club opened a lot of doors to how I feel now. It pumped me up. I never would have gone to peace camp. I wouldn’t have changed the experience with Peace Club for anything.
What was your experience with Summer Peace Camp? Peace camp helped me in dealing with other people who have my same interests. It taught me how to be a speaker, how to go out in the community. The ideology of Peace Camp is still very important to me, I look forward to it every summer.
What are your activities at College? I am in a creative writing class at college and the story I’m working on now is about an activist. I am a vegetarian and I am trying to start a vegetarian club at school. I am trying to join MECHA and I still talk to military recruiters on campus. I also still go to my old high school, Lynwood High and work with Ms. Christiansen, the faculty sponsor of the Art and Peace Club.
What are your main challenges today? My main challenges are confronting people’s deeply held beliefs about minorities. People think that because you’re a minority you’re not capable of things. I find it is difficult to get through people’s beliefs about you as a minority, and it is particularly hard when I have to juggle my school, work and activist responsibilities.
Steven Delgado
Steven is currently attending Harbor College where he is student body vice president. He is an intern with the California Teachers Association. Steven is a director of South Bay Youth 4 Peace.
Why was the San Pedro High School Peace Club important to you?
Peace Club is the reason why I didn’t join the Marine Corps. It is the reason why I became a student body leader, it helped ignite a passion in me for student body activism, it is where I found out that teachers aren’t all that bad, and I like pizza on Fridays.
What were your impressions of Summer Peace Camp?
It was where I saw a diverse body of students discuss peace skills and strategies, Students became one, students became more skilled, through discussion and debate in understanding and presenting issues and confronting military recruitment on their campuses. It was a place where students could discuss strategies for building peace clubs on their high school campuses
What are your Current Challenges?
The state of California is cutting programs across the board and particularly for economically disadvantaged students like me. This means that many students will not be able to reach their education goals nor their life goals and this is an enormous challenge that I want to confront and defeat.
South Bay Youth 4 Peace is a coalition of high school and college students from several campuses engaged in counter-military recruitment and other peace work in high schools. The organization is mentored by adult community activists from San Pedro neighbors for Peace and Justice. SBY4P members put on demonstrations at school sites, distribute information to peers, and host guest speakers at their respective high schools. They gather for special activities and participation in national rallies. They also put out a newsletter called The Activist, and participate in an annual summer camp