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By Molly Walsh
Free Press Staff Writer
September 22, 2006
BRISTOL -- One day this summer, 16-year-old
Ida Chorney received atelephone call: Would she
care to join fellow Mount Abraham Union High School
students on a trip to hear 10 Nobel Peace Prize
winners speak at a conference in Denver?
The high school junior quickly decided yes and
began saving the earnings from her creemee stand
summer job. Last week, she spent the money and
traveled to PeaceJam, joining 3,000 students from
around the world who gathered to hear a lineup
of laureates including the Dalai Lama, Archbishop
Desmond Tutu and Vermont native Jody Williams.
Chorney was one of seven Mount Abraham students
who traveled to Denver with teacher Josie Jordan
Lipken and returned Monday on a red-eye flight.
In an interview at school Wednesday, Chorney and
the other students said the experience left them
exhilarated, inspired and undaunted by the pile
of homework awaiting them on their return. "It
was so worth it," said Chorney, who lives
in Lincoln.
The goal of the conference was to inspire a new
generation of peacemakers. The laureates talked
about global warming, child hunger, nuclear disarmament,
prejudice, war and human rights violations. They
emphasized a common theme, the students said:
Don't let the scale of the world's problems defeat
you; instead look around to see what you can do.
"It made me really feel like I can help
people," Chorney said.
During the three-day conference, the Vermont
students heard numerous speeches, met students
from distant states and foreign countries, wrote
letters to the United Nations and watched a documentary
about Ugandan child soldiers -- youngsters who
are kidnapped and forced to fight.
The Mount Abraham students have decided to try
to help the Ugandan child soldiers by raising
awareness about their plight and raising money
to create a safe haven. The students also will
fight oppression and exploitation closer to home.
Though PeaceJam was just a few days long, several
students predicted it would have a lasting impact.
"It was definitely, definitely worth it --
a life-changing experience," said Jordan
Shanahan, a 17-year-old senior who lives in Bristol.
Mesa Dobek, a 17-year-old senior from Lincoln,
said the trip made her own problems seem much
smaller. "I wasn't expecting to be this affected.
It really put everything in my life into perspective."
Tutu told the teens that Nobel laureates do not
come floating down from heaven -- they were all
teenagers once.
Shirin Ebadi, who won the Nobel in 2003 for human
rights work in the Middle East, urged students
to fight against illiteracy and ignorance that
breed prejudice.
Williams told the teens they are old enough to
understand the problems of the world, and old
enough to help make them go away.
The Mount Abraham students had a chance to meet
and talk with Williams, who grew up in Vermont
and was living in Putney when she was awarded
the Nobel Peace Prize in 1997 for her work in
creating an international treaty to ban landmines.
Meeting a laureate from small-town Vermont was
a powerful motivator, several Mount Abraham students
said. "She accomplished so much," said
Gillian Comito, a 16-year-old junior from Bristol.
Other Mount Abraham students who attended the
conference were Noah Duncan, a 15-year-old sophomore
from Bristol; Raechel Schuldenrein, a 14-year-old
freshman from Lincoln; and Leah Marsters, a 17-year-old
senior from Lincoln.
Lipken decided to organize a Mount Abraham delegation
to the PeaceJam after a friend elbowed her at
a potluck in July and told her about the event.
Lipken contacted students who had demonstrated
leadership skills at the high school and soon
they were planning an excursion to Colorado.
The cost per student came to about $1,000, including
airfare, conference fees and food. Students or
their parents paid the tab.
It was an honor to escort the students on the
trip, Lipken said. The PeaceJam was especially
meaningful because it came after a difficult event
in Lipken's teaching career. Last spring she suffered
minor injuries while attempting to break up a
fight between students in a hallway at Mount Abraham.
"After 15 years of teaching, you sometimes
need a jump in a cold lake. A little refresher,"
Lipken said. "This was for me a timely dose
of inspiration."
Contact Molly Walsh at 660-1874 or mwalsh@bfp.burlingtonfreepress.com
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