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"If you watch how nature deals with adversity, continually renewing itself, you can't help but learn".
- Bernie Siegel, M.D." -
The first day of Spring is right around the corner (March 20!) and with the season comes a physical renewal of all things beautiful. The flowers peak their heads out from the ground, the trees begin to find their green again, and the sun steps out from behind the clouds.
But as much as this is a time for nature's renewal, it's also the perfect moment for renewal at Peace Learning Center. With almost 20 years of peace education experience, we at the Center feel the work we're doing has turned a new leaf as we embark on implementing restorative practices in all we do.
You'll hear about the effects this work is having in Tim's Peace Update. As one of our Youth Development Facilitator's said the other day after leading a restorative practice to agreement, "They both didn't have a desire to fight, but had a deep desire to learn, understand and correct the wrong. That's the purpose of restorative practices - to correct the wrong by repairing relationships. Then creating a mutual agreement for the future."
This issue of PLC News includes:
- Volunteer of the Month
- A Time for Team Renewal
- The Chance to be New Again
- Personal Renewal
- Upcoming Events
Peace on,
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VOLUNTEERING AT PLC
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Volunteer of the Month
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Rachel is pictured here, volunteering at the Mustached Turtle Dash. She is in the front row, 2nd from the right.
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Rachel Horan is this month's Volunteer of the Month. As a volunteer Rachel is an active member of our young professional's group and participates in many of our fundraising events. Tiffany Tibbot, our Director of Operations has worked closely with Rachel and said, "Recently, Rachel gave up her Sunday and evenings to help Peace Learning Center make a hype video for our involvement in Brackets for Good. She created a fun and engaging video that we wouldn't have had the skill set to do ourselves." Rachel is easy to work with and always brings a positive attitude and energy.
Thank you Rachel for everything you have done for our organization. We are very grateful to have you on our team!
As always, PLC volunteers are busy making a difference everyday! Thanks to all of you who've helped support our mission to educate,
inspi
re and empower people to build peaceful communities this past month.
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CORPORATE AND COMMUNITY PROGRAMS
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A Time for Team Renewal
"And so with the sunshine and the great bursts of leaves growing on the trees, just as things grow in fast movies, I had that familiar conviction that life was beginning over again with the summer."
We get so bogged down in the moment. There are so many things to which we must attend to - meetings, reports, grades, e-mails, phone calls, conferences, housework, homework, and more. The list goes on and on. So, as Fitzgerald notes above, maybe we should just take a moment and celebrate the "great burst of leaves," and take pause. Celebrate beginning over again with the oncoming spring and summer.
One of the more popular offerings in our Community Programs portfolio of workshops is our custom designed and facilitated Team Retreat and Renewal Workshop. Based on team needs and current challenges, we build experiential interactions where participants get a chance to relax, talk with one another, and reflect on why they do what they do. We create a space and a time to breathe.
We take a moment to celebrate the environment around us. This can happen as a result of an "Environmental Scavenger Hunt," creating a team built piece of artwork, or visiting our Be the Change exhibit. We stretch our senses - what do we hear, see, smell or feel? What does it remind you of? What does it mean to you? Our facility in Indianapolis' Eagle Creek Park is perfect for these types of retreats. Hardly a moment passes without a chance to encounter something beautiful and amazing.
Connections emerge between attendees and the people, organizations, and communities they serve. Often times, participants discover (or rediscover) an important and meaningful sense of shared values, vision, and mission. Teams remember they are in it together and for a good cause. Participants remember they are not alone.
We can easily create a team renewal retreat for your organization or team. Come see the "burst of leaves" and consider beginning again "with the summer."
To learn more about Corporate and Community programs, contact John McShane
or call 317.327.7144.
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RENEWAL OFFERS THE CHANCE TO BE NEW AGAIN
Imagine if you could start over - what would you do differently?
What if you could start over again learning better ways to handle conflicts? A true test of a person is not how they handle regular life, but rather life's difficulties like airlines losing your luggage, being stuck in a traffic jam, or being challenged on your beliefs and attitudes.
Peace Learning Center facilitators are embedded in schools teaching conflict resolution in classrooms and helping schools implement Restorative Circles when there are major conflicts or disruptions.
Just the other day one of our facilitators was asked to help an elementary school class where there were petty thefts of students' personal belongings. This is a common problem in schools that is rarely solved because no one will admit guilt while there is plenty of blame going around.
The entire class was assembled in a circle and each student went one by one explaining if they had something missing and how it made them feel.
Before all the students talked, one youth got his back pack and gave each stolen item back to the rightful owner. The teacher had never witnessed such an act of honesty. In other circles, teachers are reporting that they've never seen their students take more responsibility.
This is what we want to multiply all over Indianapolis and throughout the country - a renewal of spirit that breaks us of out of the cycle of blame and shame and into a new reality of peaceful resolution, communication and enjoyment of life.
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GROW YOURSELF
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SELF RENEWAL
So what exactly is "RENEWAL?" It could be many things. According to the dictionary, there are 3 definitions: T
he action of extending the period of validity of a license, subscription, contract OR the replacing or repair of something that is worn out, run-down, or broken OR an instance of resuming an activity or state after an interruption.
Personally, I associate best with the 2nd definition. That is how I feel a lot of the time. Worn out, run down and pooped out, both physically and mentally. So that got me thinking..... what could I do to change this? My thoughts led me to self renewal, which of course led me to Google, which gave me enough information to keep my head spinning for months! Everything from "pause and do nothing for an hour", to going to the gym, yoga, looking for miracles, breathing and finding my own unique song and singing it. That pretty much covers it all!
I did find a website that is actually reasonable and mostly do-able. It made perfect sense. The link is HERE. I hope you find time to read the article and find a few things that will help you slow down, take a breath, renew yourself and sing your own song!
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SUPPORT PEACE
Make Good Changes Happen!
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Please help us thank some of our donors this past month who are helping make peace possible!
Individuals:
- Jeffrey Day
- Daniel Foote
- Saul Helman
- Grafton & Steve Balko
- Paul Fulkerson
- Rita Hulvershorn
- Fred Nation
- Robert Bringle
- Tadas Viskanta
- Peggy Meyer
- Pamela Tibbot
- Natalie Spriggs
- Nick Ison
- Sandra Porter Wortman
- Amy Stewart
- William Sweitzer
- Skye Berger
- Sara Talbert
- Matt Horan
- Patricia Nguyen
- James Taylor
- Stacy Robinson
- Jeff Kisling
- Angie Ziliak
- Barbara Townsend
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UPCOMING EVENTS
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Peacemakers Presented by Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra
WHAT:
This innovative work highlights speeches and contributions of the famous peacemakers of our time: Mahatma Gandhi, Eleanor Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Robert F. Kennedy, Anwar Sadat, Yitzak Rabin, Nelson Mandela, and Jimmy Carter. ICO Composer-in-Residence James Aikman memorializes these peacemakers in music, media, and performance.
WHEN: Friday, April 15, 2016 at 7:30 p.m.
WHERE: Schrott Center for the Arts, 610 W. 46th St.
REGISTER: $30 Adult, $12 student: Order at
www.icomusic.org or call 317-940-9607. Use the discount code "PeaceLearningCenter" to receive $5 off adult tickets.
Beyond You: Youth Empowerment Symposium
WHAT:
A symposium for youth ages 12-18 that will help youth explore ways to become more involved in their community based on their passions, how to set goals, and create change, sponsored by DMHA. More details will be available in the March newsletter.
WHEN: Wednesday, April 27th at 9 am from 3 pm
WHERE: The Athenaeum, 407 E. Michigan St., Indianapolis, IN 46204
For more information about bringing youth the symposium contact Tiffany Tibbot or call 317.327.7144.
REGISTER: Click
HERE to register or go to:
Cocktails & Coloring Series
WHAT:
Join other creatively minded community members for a unique evening inspired by the new trend of therapeutic coloring. We provide the coloring pages and colored pencils. Your admission fee covers the cost of one signature drink!
WHEN: Tuesday March 29, April 12, April 26 & May 24 from 6 pm to 9 pm
WHERE: Hotel Tango Whiskey, located in Fountain Square at 702 Virginia Avenue
For more information about this series, please contact Tiffany Tibbot at 317.327.7144 or email of
[email protected]
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