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Hi all,
In case you are in Southern California, you may want to know about this
workshop. Sunday there is a unique peace education workshop in beautiful Topanga
Canyon that will interest some of you. The following info is from Kim
Driscoll. Her number is listed near the end of the message to RSVP, or you can reply
to me and I will let her know if you are coming. Lots of lovely families,
interested in learning and teaching about the great peacemakers in history, NVC
and conflict resolution skills, will be attending.
To quote Kim, the organizer of the event: "There have been thousands of young
people, and many educators, who have been inspired by the work of Colman
McCarthy. By having his son John come to speak about his work, and his father's
work, the hope is to spread the word, spread the books, and spread the vision of
a world at peace."
So, please share this with anyone who might be interested, and I hope you can
join us there.~Robin

**John McCarthy, Peace Educator
**Topanga Community House 1440 N. Topanga Canyon Blvd.
**(about 6 miles south of 101 frwy and 6 miles north of Pacific Coast Highway)
**May 21, 2006 at 1:30PM
**Donations will be accepted on behalf of John's ongoing peace programs

> Dear Friends,
> In 1982 Washington Post columnist Colman McCarthy was invited to teach a
> course on writing at an impoverished public school in Washington, D.C. He
> responded, "I'd rather teach peace." Since then, he has had more than 5,000
> students in his classes on nonviolence, pacifism, and conflict management.
In
> the past 20 years, no other journalist in Washington has had as broad a
> commitment to both writing and teaching. In addition to the first high
school,
> where he still volunteers, McCarthy has accepted invitations to teach in a
> juvenile prison, Georgetown University Law Center, the University of
Maryland, American University, and two more high schools.
>
> I just got off the phone with Colman McCarthy. I asked Mr. McCarthy if he
> would come to Topanga to speak to as many people, (interested folk, and
those
> educators who could use his curriculum with their students), as I could
round
> up. He is not available until the Fall. Colman's son John, however, will be
> able to come to Topanga on Sunday, May 21st.
>
> John has been teaching the "Alternatives to Violence" course at Wilson H.S.
in
> Washington, D.C. since 1994. The course studies the successes of  such great
> peacemakers as Mandela, King, Day, Gandhi, and Schweitzer. For all you
> baseball fans, John used to play for the minor league Baltimore Orioles and
,
> in 1994, created Elementary Baseball, an after school literacy and baseball
> program for boys and girls ages 6-12 in Washington's Shaw neighborhood. In
> 1999 he co-created Beisbol y Libros, a coed after school baseball and
academic
> program for 400 public school students in the Dominican Republic.
>
> John will give a talk
> on his peace studies classes, involve people in a workshop-type format,
hold a
> question and answer period, and bring samples of curriculum that could be
used
> in the classroom or homelearning environment.

> Our family has been using some of Colman's books, "I'd Rather Teach Peace",
> "Strength Through Peace", "All of One Peace", and "Solutions to Violence"
and
> they are great.
> So, if you are interested or you have any friends or contacts at local
schools
> that may want to come hear John speak, and see the books that he uses in his
> classes, please come this Sunday, May 21st !! You can send me their email
addresses or phone
> numbers to KdriscollMWI@..., or call me at (310)455-0974. 
>
> There is no charge to attend the event.
>
>  
>
> "A question settled in my mind a few years ago and refused to leave until I
> not only answered it but also acted on the answer...If peace is what every
> government says it seeks, and peace is the yearning of every heart, why
aren't
> we studying it and teaching it in schools?" -Colman McCarthy
>
>  
>
> There have been thousands of young people, and many educators, who have been
> inspired by the work of Colman McCarthy. By having his son John come to
speak
> about his work, and his father's work, the hope is to spread the word,
spread
> the books, and spread the vision of a world at peace.