Peace in the Classroom
Teaching youngsters to be friends, not foes.

By Karen Feldscher

Soon after the new year began, sophomore criminal-justice major Ashley Cote went back to grade school. She says it's the perfect place for her right now.

Cote is on co-op at the Maurice J. Tobin School, a K-8 school in Roxbury, working with a nationwide program known as Peace Games, which encourages children to be peacemakers and engaged community members.

Her full-time participation in Peace Games is made possible by the Stride Rite Community Scholars Program, a cooperative venture between Northeastern and several local community agencies that puts students in Boston-area community-service co-ops.

In addition to its work at the Tobin, the Peace Games organization runs programs at several other Boston elementary schools, as well as at schools in Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York.

Along with Marco Cenafils, the Tobin's Peace Games coordinator, Cote helps kids become more caring and conscientious people. An age-appropriate curriculum emphasizes collaborative games; discussions of such topics as communication, conflict resolution, and cultural differences; and community-service projects.

According to the Peace Games website, at, eighteen months of training at one partner school reduced verbal altercations between students by 41 percent, and disruptive incidents in the classroom, lunchroom, or playground went down by 59 percent. Episodes of abuse directed at teachers ceased entirely. The program works, proponents believe, because it connects with kids at an early age.

"In kindergarten, kids learn things like 'I am special,'" Cote explains. "In later years, they learn how to express their feelings, and about friendship. Then they get into community-service projects. Over time, students realize there are problems in the community that they can fix."

One typical activity for young children is called the Hula-Hoop relay. The rules are simple: Kids stand in a circle, hold hands, and pass a Hula-Hoop all the way around the circle as fast as possible without letting go of each other's hands. The goal, of course, is teamwork.

Cote says she wanted to work for Peace Games because, after graduation, she'd like to get into public policymaking and spur more such programs into existence. "I figured the best way to get started is to work with a program like this," she says. "And I always knew I wanted to work with juveniles."

For his part, Cenafils says having Northeastern students work for the program—at no cost to the local schools—is a huge plus. "The benefits that go to the children are unbelievable. The relationship between them and the Northeastern students is like an older sister or brother relationship. They become a symbol, somebody these kids can look up to."

Also, he says, "the kids see that college students want to make the community a better place. And it makes them think about doing that—and about going to college, too."

Karen Feldscher is a senior writer. "In the Hub" is a new department that will regularly cover community-service initiatives.