Projects in 2007Peace Activists in TrainingThrough student scholarships, the Abe Keller organization sponsors an intensive four-week Peace Activist Training (PAT) program for local high-school students. Prospective interns each year are interviewed and selected on the basis of several criteria. The training is provided and administered by the Western Washington Fellowship of Reconciliation (WWFOR), and the students participate in a variety of assignments including soap-box public speaking, street-side surveys, forums, and research. The students are provided with several options for study topics, and they must come to a consensus about which topic they will focus on during the training program. In 2007, there were six students who participated in PAT, each from a different high school. Based on recent events in Seattle and an informative forum with local law-enforcement personnel, the students chose to focus their efforts on the topic of police brutality. However, in addition to this main area of focus, each student was allowed to pursue their own interests in peace and justice, and these secondary topics ranged from sexual discrimination to military training programs. Two of the students provided an oral recap of their internships during a recent meeting of the Abe Keller fund. The students reported that PAT was a tremendous experience for them, and they learned skills that they'll be able to apply in future leadership roles. An excellent article on the success of the PAT program, based on the 2005 internships, can be found in the WWFOR Pacific Call newsletter for September-October 2005. Refer to the article entitled A Great July for WWFOR Peace Activist Trainees by Ellen Finkelstein, WWFOR Organizer. Think Peace: Peacemaking in a Troubled WorldThis is a monthly video program by the Abe Keller Peace Education Fund. Program topics cover a variety of issues related to peace; for example, the program in February focused on humanitarian relief efforts, and the program in March looked at nuclear weapons proliferation. The program is shown on SCAN TV (Seattle Community Access Network) on the third Tuesday of each month, at 6 PM. It is available in the Seattle area on cable 77 (Comcast) or 29 (Millennium), or you can watch it anywhere with an Internet connection as a live video stream at scantv.org. Washington Truth in Recruiting (WaTiR)The mission of WaTiR is "Connecting with students and parents, to provide objective information for critical life choices involving the military." The Pentagon spends $4 billion marketing and recruiting per year. It's important for students and parents to understand the truth about what joining the military really means. WaTiR works toward this goal by identifying channels (parents, teachers, etc.), informing them of the WaTiR mission, recommending printed brochures, identifying qualified presenters, and providing training. Further information is available at the WaTiR website. Recent Projects |
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