Dear Educators,

Thank you very much for registering your school for our Peace Tree Day inauguration on June 1, 2006. Your students will have to bring a few things the event. The following is an outline and details of how to create each item by each school.

Please note that each school will be able to bring four Peace Tree Ambassadors who show strong leadership skills and have shown a commitment to promoting peace activities throughout the school and their community. A group representing a range of ages (k - 6 or k - 8) along with a diversity of backgrounds would be ideal.

Peace Pennant

Each school will design a Peace Pennant, which reflects the students’ vision of living in peace and diversity in our world. Make the pennant out of colourful construction paper using a cut and paste technique or white paper coloured with bright markers or crayons (press hard to get vibrant colours). Please make sure to cover the pennant in colours completely. Make the Pennant in the shape of an isosceles triangle with a base of 30cm/12” and a height of 60cm/24”. Students can either incorporate their message of peace into their drawing on the front of the pennant or write it on the back or do both. The writing should be legible from a distance. Be creative with the lettering and use nice contrasting colours.

Once the pennants are complete, wrap them around a 1/4” dowel (available at Micheals) to carry down to Nathan Phillips Square. Please make sure that the dowel can slip off easily as we would like to hang the pennants from a string during the Peace Tree Day celebrations.

Peace Symbols

Each school will have to create two peace, faith and/or cultural symbols to highlight on the city’s first Peace Tree. Make the symbols out of brightly coloured card stock or construction paper for durability. Please do not use regular white paper. The symbols should be completely coloured (no white, unless it is a dove). Some stencils of symbols will be forwarded to give an idea of size along with pictures and a list of symbols. Symbols should be approximately 4” x 4”. Please ask students to research their symbols, so they understand the meaning and origin of the symbol. There are also some world symbols in alphabetical order under http://www.symbols.com/index/wordindex besides many that you can find on the internet. (Cut and paste the web address onto the address bar.)

As each school will be asked to create two peace symbols, in order to avoid creating too many of one symbol, a list with all the symbols is attached with the name of the school beside the symbols your school will be creating. If you have, another symbol that you would like to create that is not on the list, please email info@peacetreeday.com, so we can add it to our list. This seemed to be the simplest way to create the symbols and avoid duplication. Please let us know in case your school’s name is not listed or if you were only given one symbol to create (info@peacetreeday.com).

Each symbol should be hole punched with a .5cm hole puncher and pre-strung with coloured embroidery thread approximately 8cm. Long.

Peace Pack

Your school’s Peace Pack is a tote bag with your school’s symbol of peace on one side. If your students are ambitious, they can create two symbols, one for each side, with the other symbol representing ‘diversity’. Your school’s Peace Symbol is to be created from the students’ imagination and written on a white cloth with fabric pastel or paint. There can be a caption with it as well. Sew the handkerchief onto the side of the tote bag. Otherwise, the sign can be drawn onto the tote bag itself, if there is no other existing writing.

A list of items for students to bring in the tote bag will be sent closer to the date of the festival.

Peace Tree Song

The lyrics to the song ‘I Dream of the Day…’ is also attached, so we can sing it together at the closing of Peace Tree Day. This song can be taught to the whole school to sing on Remembrance Day as well, but please make sure the four Peace Tree Ambassadors who are attending Peace Tree Day know the song, there is a slight variation in the written document. The song and the Peace Tree Kit will be available on line at www.peacetreeday.com by May 12, 2006.