"PEACE"

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Brief History of Peace by PEACE Peace by PEACE began as the Peace Games Program, which was started at the University of Connecticut at Storrs by Francelia Butler, Professor Emerita of Children's Literature. Professor Butler believed that it was possible to use cooperative games to teach children the concepts of cooperation and conflict resolution. She reasoned that the program could be both fun and informative, providing children with the opportunity to learn through enjoyable games. The ultimate goal of the program was to have children create their own Peace Game, a game which would incorporate the concepts that they had learned during the program. The students would then gather together at the Peace Games Festival, which was a day-long event designed to showcase the games and allow the students to meet each other and play each other's games. After several years at the University of Connecticut, the program moved to Harvard in 1990 with the support of Dr. Butler, where it was instituted as a member organization of Philips Brooks House Association, an umbrella organization designed to foster and support Community Service Groups in the Cambridge/Boston Area. Peace Games at Yale was formed in 1993, when a group of Yale students taught the Harvard curriculum at a Glastonbury, Connecticut middle school and attended the festival with these students. 1994 marked the first year that the complete program, with both classroom and festival components, was taught at Yale. 1994 also marked the formation of another sister program, Peace Games in New York City. PG in NYC is a member organization of Community Impact, a community service umbrella organization at Columbia University. The 1994 Peace Games at Yale curriculum was taught to approximately 400 middle school students, with more than 100 of these students attending the Peace Games at Yale Festival, held at Yale in April, 1995. The Peace Games at Yale Program was expanded in 1995. The curriculum was expanded to five weeks, and the scope was extended. The curriculum was taught to almost 600 New Haven Middle School students. More than 300 of these students attended the second Peace Games at Yale festival, held at Yale in early April. In 1996, Peace Games expanded its curriculum to eight weeks. The curriculum included lessons on diverse topics, such as Racism in the Community and Violence and Conflict: The Story of Quentin Carter. The curriculum was taught to more than 600 New Haven Middle School Students, with many of them attending the festival held on March 30, 1996. In 1998, Peace Games changed its name to Peace by PEACE, which stands for Playful Explorations in Active Conflict-Resolution Education. Peace by PEACE became an international organization. In the 2000-2001 years, the International group included Peace by PEACE affliates from Yale, New York, Toronto, Baltimore, Atlanta. The program is continuing to grow and expand to more areas. In 2001, Peace by PEACE at Yale was taught to over 300 students, with about 100 attending a fantastic Festival in the spring.