VA Tech Support by Random Acts of Kindness Dedications

The UF Peacejam group at Eastside decided they wanted to support those impacted by the VA Tech shootings. Led by Ashley Nelson, Junior in the Eastside IB program, the group asked teachers to give their students time to dedicate a Random Act of Kindness to the survivors, families, and friends at Tech. We had a terrific response and are in the process of creating a scrapbook. Students from Eastside wrote their own expressions of support and a promise to reach out to others in their Gainesville community through an act of kindness. We were so pleased with the dedications that we are extending the project through the Fall so that other schools can participate. If you would like to dedicate an act of kindness to be included in our book, send us an e-mail at swebster@ufl.edu with the act you will do and any other words that you would like to convey to the families. You can sign your name or leave it anonymous.

June 3rd Meeting

The Peacejam group has decided to do a campaign in a local middle school to increase awareness about the effect of T.V. on choices of middle school students. In an effort to encourage students to 'write their own story rather than have others write it for them', Eastside peacejam students will do a 3-part service project around this campaign:
1) Increase awareness of the impact of t.v. on students through posters in the schools
2) Engage middle school students in a conversation about choices and role models as impacted by the media in an after-school dialogue
3) Produce and distribute a newsletter about how to 'write your own story' by including reactions from the after-school dialogue, introducing info on choosing good leaders, groups, and role models, and identifying the activism of nobel peace laureates as examples of active citizenship vs. passive viewership