By Erika Anderson

Staff Writer

HAPEVILLE-A quilted banner at St. John the Evangelist School reads "Enter With a Peaceful Heart."

Students at the school have taken that message seriously, said Karen Vogtner, principal of the school. St. John the Evangelist has promoted a school year's theme of peace, and the chords of harmony have been present throughout the building and in the lives of its students.

"In a world today that is full of violence and is full of the need to have material things to succeed, it is important that we are focusing on peace," Vogtner said. "It's so important that we learn that peace comes from God-it comes from the inside and not from anything on the outside."

Priscilla Garten, director of development for the school, said that they have tried to incorporate the theme into all aspects of the school.

"We are really trying to create an awareness in our students of the things that they could be doing to promote peace within their schools, their families and their community."

Since the beginning of the year, peace has been emphasized at St. John the Evangelist.

"We are continuing to carry out the peace theme in as many activities as we can," Garten said.

Each individual class wrote a peace prayer at the beginning of the year. A white pine tree was planted on the school grounds, a symbol of peace for the Iroquois Indian tribe. The Indians would plant the white pine tree and then bury their weapons around the tree, symbolizing an end to violence. As the students gathered around the tree, they held hands and read their peace prayers, then they each took a handful of dirt and threw it on the tree.

"In a sense, everyone in the school planted that tree," Garten said.

Students have also been talking about peace in their classes and writing essays about the need for peace in the world. In addition, the peace prayers of each class were made into a booklet to give to guests and priests as gifts. Each student will also receive a laminated bookmark with his class's peace prayer.

Students have also been recognized for their peacefulness. Each quarter, students and teachers from each class have chosen peacemakers-students who exemplify peace in the school, in their families and in their community.

Katie Garten, a seventh-grade student, was chosen as a peacemaker.

"I thought it was a really good thing to be nominated for something big like that, especially by your peers," she said.

Katie said that without peace, the world "would be in total chaos."

She also believes that the students at St. John the Evangelist are making a true effort to be peaceful to one another.

"I'm a lot more aware of the need for peace," she said. "It means a lot to me and I think it means a lot to the whole

school."

"I really see the students trying to help each other and be more peaceful," she continued. "In a way, it's brought the whole school together."

Mikki Cone is an eighth-grader who was chosen as a peacemaker.

"It felt really good to know that other people saw me as peaceful," she said.

Cone said that peace is important because it keeps people humble.

"Peace helps us so we can stay down to earth and nice and friendly-not cruel," she said. "I think that our school has become a lot more aware of what peace means."

Vogtner believes that her students have a deeper sense of peace in their lives as a result of celebrating the theme all year.

She recalled a story told to her by a parent of a pre-kindergarten peacemaker.

Playing on the playground, the young boy was confronted by another boy who was playing with a toy gun and told the St. John the Evangelist student that he was going to pretend to shoot him.

"The little boy said, 'Well, I'm a peacemaker and I'm going to pray for you,'" Vogtner said.

"I just think it's so wonderful that he's already learning about peace at such a young age and thinking in that way," she said. "It's wonderful that he has already realized how powerful prayer can be in bringing peace into our lives."