Transforming Schools and Communities
This entry has been selected as a finalist in the
Revelation to Action: Your Place. Your Idea. Your Change. competition.
Summary:
Peace First, which began as a response to the skyrocketing youth homicide rates in the early 1990s, works in partnership with schools to build safe, effective school climates where children learn how to be engaged and active citizens. The heart of this program is a Pre-K-8 service-learning curriculum
Section 1: You
First Name
Eric
Last Name
Dawson
Website URL
Organization
Peace First (formerly Peace Games)
Country
Section 2: Your Organization
Organization Name
Peace First (formerly Peace Games)
Organization Website
Organization Phone
617-261-3833 x 309
Organization Address
280 Summer Street, Mezzanine Level, Boston MA 02210
Is your organization a
Non‐profit/NGO/citizen sector organization
Organization Country
United States
Your idea
Name Your Project
Transforming Schools and Communities
Country and state your work focuses on
United States, MA
Describe Your Idea
Peace First, which began as a response to the skyrocketing youth homicide rates in the early 1990s, works in partnership with schools to build safe, effective school climates where children learn how to be engaged and active citizens. The heart of this program is a Pre-K-8 service-learning curriculum
Website URL
Innovation
What makes your idea unique?
Our curriculum is integrated into the academic frameworks of the school, taught by college volunteers in partnership with the classroom teacher. This work is supported by intense coaching with principals and lead teachers to deepen their efficacies at supporting academically and emotionally successful young people. The model is effective because we start when children are four, serve every student, and build capacity by training every member of the school community so they can sustain this work themselves.
Do you have a patent for this idea?
Impact
This Entry is about (Issues)
What impact have you had?
Peace First now runs successful programs in Boston, Los Angeles and New York. In Boston, Peace First has taught over 30,000 students critical conflict resolution skills; created over 1,200 student-led service projects that improved communities and instilled a sense of civic engagement in students; recruited 2,500 volunteers who provided 300,000 hours of volunteer teaching service; trained 1,000 teachers in conflict resolution and classroom management skills; and worked in over 60 schools throughout the city.
Recent data from our schools show the long-term positive effects of Peace First: 84 percent of students reported that they rarely tease others, 75 percent reported that they are rarely teased, pushed or threatened by others and 81 percent reported that they can walk away from a fight without feeling like a coward. A University of Southern California study also found a decrease in incident reports: 41 percent fewer verbal altercations, a 70 percent reduction in racial/ethnic tensions, and 50 percent fewer weapons being brought to school. In addition, 92 percent of teachers reported that Peace First helped students “include others in their groups and games,” and become involved in service projects in their community and 98 percent of 4th graders reported that they now are more likely to “include others in my group” than form cliques.
Problem
Violence, in all of its forms makes learning difficult, if not impossible, for a substantial number of children. When Peace First began in Boston, over 17 years ago, the city was part of the epicenter of the national youth violence epidemic. Young people were dying and schools were struggling to provide any meaningful response. Over the years there have been improvements in some areas and struggles in others. The city of Boston enjoyed a significant decline in community and youth violence in the 1990s due to innovative partnership between the city, law enforcement officials, and community organizations. However, while overall violent crime has decreased by roughly eight percent in Boston over the last two years, there has been a sharp increase in youth violence and homicides in geographic “hot spots” (Boston Indicators Project, 2009). A majority of Peace First schools are located in these “hot spots” or are home to many of our students. Additionally, according to the Crime Summary Report published by The Boston Police Department, juveniles arrested for violent crimes increased by 11 percent since 2007.
Actions
Describe the steps that you are taking to make your innovation a success.
After having undergone a year long strategic planning process, the organization decided to focus its efforts on three core elements in order to support students as peacemakers: excellent curriculum delivery for students, coaching for school principals, and training for teachers. We revised our program model to reach more students, help adults lead school change work, and eventually triple our reach to prepare for future growth. The organization has also been bringing on critical senior leaders to the organization: Executive Directors in Boston and New York, and a Vice President of Programs. In the coming year, we plan to bring on a Los Angeles Executive Director, a Vice President of Business Operations, a National Director of Instruction, and a National Director of School Change. Success would be prevented by not effectively executing our model or hiring the proper talent to achieve our mission.
Results
As a result of these actions, Peace First expects to have stronger outcomes for its students, teachers, and principals. We also expect to have a stronger program model in place, which will prepare the organization for substantial future growth. A consistent and effective program model with strong outcomes will allow the organization to attract funders, school partners, generate government support, and eventually influence public policy.
What will it take for your project to be successful over the next three years? Please address each year separately, if possible.
Over the next year, we plan on implementing key learnings from the past year wherein we piloted our revised program model. From this year, we will implement our findings, including how to best coach principals and teachers to build and sustain healthy school cultures, and how to ensure excellent and consistent curriculum delivery.
In year two, we plan to implement the program in more schools, with a total of 54 schools across Boston, Los Angeles, and New York. We also hope to build our back office infrastructure to support future growth, including the organization’s information technology systems, and its human resources systems. These systems will allow us raise capital in order to help the organization grow and reach exponentially more students and school staff.
In year three, we will develop a proof of concept based on our work with 54 different schools. We will also conduct a comprehensive evaluation study, which will demonstrate the impact of our work as well as indicate areas for improvement. Additionally, we will develop a plan for substantial growth, and continue to fundraise to expand the organization.
What would prevent your project from being a success?
The organization will not succeed if it cannot deliver a consistent and effective product: curriculum for students, and coaching for principals and teachers. Additionally, the organization will not succeed if the program does not achieve the same high evaluation results once we expand into 54 schools. We will need strong outcomes in order to make the case for our program’s effectiveness in order to attract and retain school partners, and to fundraise to sustain and grow the organization.
How many people will your project serve annually?
1001‐10,000
What is the average monthly household income in your target community, in US Dollars?
$100 ‐ 1000
Does your project seek to have an impact on public policy?
Yes
Sustainability
What stage is your project in?
Operating for more than 5 years
In what country?
United States, MA
Is your initiative connected to an established organization?
Yes
If yes, provide organization name.
Peace First
How long has this organization been operating?
More than 5 years
Does your organization have a Board of Directors or an Advisory Board?
Yes
Does your organization have any non-monetary partnerships with NGOs?
Yes
Does your organization have any non-monetary partnerships with businesses?
Yes
Does your organization have any non-monetary partnerships with government?
No
Please tell us more about how these partnerships are critical to the success of your innovation.
In addition to our deep collaborations with individual schools, Peace First brings a long history of collaborating with other organizations to assist us in our overall goals. We have developed strong college and university partnerships that serve as a source of volunteers: Emerson College, Emmanuel College, Harvard University, Lesley University, and Northeastern University; and are discussing new partnerships with many other local institutions for the fall. Each year, the student-led service projects bring in dozens of partners to create positive change within the school community, including groups such as the Pine Street Inn, Children’s Hospital Boston, Bird Street Community Center, Boston Medical Center, Franklin Park Zoo, Project Hope, and Bridge Over Troubled Water.
Additionally, The Columbian Government asked Peace First to help design their national standard for civic engagement which led to a World Bank-funded project and distribution of Peace First curriculum to over 6,000 schools.
What are the three most important actions needed to grow your initiative or organization?
Peace First needs to raise money, hire and retain talented staff, and produce strong outcomes to grow our organization. Fundraising is a critical aspect of our work, allowing us to run the day-to-day operations of the organization, while investing in the critical systems, hires, technology, and products that will enable us to expand. Hiring and retaining talent staff is also essential to the success of our work. As the organization grows, it needs committed and mission-driven staff with an expertise in education that can proficiently coach principals and teachers, and oversee curriculum instruction. Additionally, the organization needs highly organized, forward-thinking office staff to plan the operations, finance, development, and communications aspects of our work. Finally, the organization must have strong outcomes. Typical evaluation outcomes from our schools indicate that students who participate in the program have an understanding of the importance of civic engagement, know how to solve conflicts with their peers, demonstrate pro social behaviors such as helping and sharing, and demonstrate a commitment to academic excellence. Such outcomes and a proof of concept will make a strong case for our work and attract potential partners, funders, and government support. Peace First will focus its actions on these three areas in order to expand its presence nationally to support more students’ engagement in making their schools and communities safer, more productive places.
The Story
What was the defining moment that led you to this innovation?
One of my greatest lessons about violence was from a student I worked with in a summer camp at one of Boston’s most notorious public housing developments. One day after camp, a student named Darius found a sick cat on the playground of the development. Along with a friend, he took bricks from a nearby construction site and stoned the cat until it died. When I found out about the incident, I asked Darius why he did it: he said he killed the cat because that is what the big boys were doing. He had learned to be violent.
I gathered my students and we talked about their experiences with violence. I was not shocked by their stories; violence was not new to our neighborhood. What surprised me was how they responded to each other: they held each others' hands and decided it would be all right.
I realized that violence is a learned behavior, and adults do a tremendous job of teaching children that violence is a viable solution. My students had ideas about changing their community and hungered for someone help make their ideas reality. We must help children discover the power they have to impact the world around them.
Over the years I’ve learned that real social change is lived in the daily. It’s not defined by large protests or sweeping legislation, but the daily acts of courage and kindness that ultimately transform lives and change the world. This is how I have come to understand my work and my life.
Tell us about the social innovator behind this idea.
I come to this work with a strong sense of hope and a great deal of personal anger. I spent a significant part of my childhood feeling scared. A tough situation in my life had gotten progressively worse and by the time I was ten I felt powerless to do anything about it. That was the year I started carrying a knife with me; the year I decided life wasn’t worth the hassle. Young people who experience violence as children tend to do one of three things: we hurt other people; we hurt ourselves through poor decision-making; and a few of us – the lucky ones – are able to externalize our anger and we become organizers.
My work over the past decade has been turning this anger into action. When I was 14 years old, students with disabilities were being included in my regular education classes. On a daily basis they would be taunted and humiliated. With a group of friends we began a group dedicated to disability awareness. I created workshops that included simulations, discussions, and role-playing that we taught to over 2,500 elementary school students in my town (I spent more time teaching than going to class, a habit that, sadly, followed me to college). Most importantly, the group became a place where students with and without disabilities could interact and fully participate.
At Harvard University in 1992, I Co-Founded the Peace First (formerly Peace Games) program along with other students, and after graduation, I incorporated the organization in 1996. The organization has become a national leader in violence prevention education, and has provided peacemaker skills training to more than 40,000 elementary and middle school students in Boston, New York, and Los Angeles.
How did you first hear about Changemakers?
Email from Changemakers
If through another, please provide the name of the organization or company
50 words or fewer
 | Transforming Schools and Communities has been chosen as a finalist in Revelation to Action: Your Place. Your Idea. Your Change.. - 88 days ago |
 | Eric Dawson added this idea to their favorites. - 138 days ago. |
 | Eric Dawson updated this idea. - 138 days ago. |
 | Eric Dawson submitted this idea. - 138 days ago |
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