BackTracking Tucson

Now where do I start writing about stuff that I missed writing about?

Maybe the Stand for Peace project we had in Desert Sky Middle School in Tucson? Yes, I guess that is a good starting point. SFP is an Up With People program for schools , where we go into classrooms and conduct workshops on diversity, respect, and peace for the students. We were all trained to do the workships in one of our Education sessions.

We had our first Stand for Peace a day before our Tucson show.

I was a bit nervous conducting the workshops infront of kids from a different culture (8th grade - aged 12-13 years old) since the image that I had of American kids were those from the movies. Brats, smart aleck-y types. But I was so surprised and refreshed after working with the kids! They were all really smart and focused.

A typical Stand for Peace session looks like this:

I. Welcome and Intro for Stand for Peace and Up With People

II. Getting to Know You Ice Breaker

III. Activity: Card Identification (an exercise in similarities and differences)

IV. Movement: Stomp! (we teach them one of the dances in the Show)

V. Activity: Tammy Stands Up (a special session about bullying, which is a big issue in US schools)

VI. Activity: Power With vs Power Over (an activity about how working together peacefully is better than fighting over things)

VII. Wrap Up : Piece of the Peace Puzzle (students write down how they can make peace in their own little way in puzzle pieces)

I was not too confident with my facilitation skills , especially since at the back of my mind I have my insecurities with my English. I promise to have more confidence and to do better next time!

In the afternoon, we had our Back Track Show (BTS) for the students which is like a sneak peek of the full show.

Ah, my favorite part of the day was:

"Diversity. Does anyone know what diversity is?"

(Student raises hand) "Diversity is like a bowl of Fruit Loops. We all come from the same box, yet we are all different. But we're all good"

Loved it.

(photo shows my teammates Raine from Canada and Gina from USA with our homeroom teacher Mr Hill)