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Jody Williams Visits Chautauqua School, Winners of Global Call to Action Challenge |
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Posted 4/3/2012 at 1:34 PM by Kate C in Affiliate News
Affiliate: Southeast |
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Nobel Peace Laureate Jody Williams visits Chautauqua School, Winners of PeaceJam's Global Call to Action Challenge.
The News Herald, PANAMA CITY — Special-needs students demonstrated service Monday by helping their peers on and off the Bay Town Trolley as it transported them from Chautauqua Learn and Serve Charter School and their illustrious delegation to a panel discussion.
Service projects undertaken by the Chautauqua students throughout Bay County were one major reason a Nobel laureate spent the day in Bay County.
Students, staff and family members were visited by 1997 Nobel Peace Prize winner Jody Williams as part of the school’s reward for being named the 2011 winners of the Global Call to Action Challenge. Williams toured the school before embarking on a trip on the trolley.
“These kids humble me,” said Williams, who won the Nobel Peace Prize jointly with the International Campaign to Ban Landmines for their efforts to ban and clear anti-personnel mines.
The Global Call to Action Challenge is cosponsored by the Pearson Foundation and PeaceJam, a nonprofit that sponsors innovative education programs. The challenge encourages young people to document their service projects and achievements to extend the work of Nobel Peace laureates like Williams, the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
“The (school) visit was very interesting,” said student Matt Zebroski, who helped give Williams the tour. “It was a very big honor for us. I hope she is excited by what she sees here and I am glad I got to meet her in person.”
The issue of equal access to transportation resonated even in the award winner’s trip to Denver to meet with PeaceJam officials. Several students were provided with airfare to travel. Instead of bringing just a few students via airplane, the Chautauqua leaders decided to travel by van and train to bring even more students.
Transportation themes were echoed throughout Monday’s visit. The Chautauqua students participated in a panel discussion at the St. Andrew Bay Yacht Club on the topic of the role of public transit in advancing human rights and social justice. Even at the event’s venue, there was no wheelchair access for students and several had to be carried up the stairs by classmates.
Changing the world
The topic of public transportation and the Bay Town Trolley is relevant to the Chautauqua students and part of the reason they had the honor of meeting with Williams and PeaceJam founder Dawn Engle. The service projects Chautauqua students documented for the competition included 500 trolley-training sessions conducted to help elderly and disabled people use public transportation.
Questions during the panel discussion ranged from how to make the trolleys more efficient, to adding covered areas at the stops and how to change the image of the trolley to appeal to younger riders. Engle suggested the students from the various schools that attended the panel discussion take action now to change the perception of the trolley by riding it.
“The only thing that changes the world is action,” Engle said.
Williams spoke about her work with survivors of landmines who traveled as advocates but often had special needs that some hotels could not accommodate. She called the experience eye-opening and a big issue. Williams also talked about the importance of community to take care of everyone — not just the pretty — and not to turn a blind eye to the homeless and others in need.
The visit concluded with a luncheon with local officials and supporters of the school.
“I wish I could stay longer and spend more time at the school,” Williams said. “I want to go out and see what these students do in the community.” |
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