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From Teachers
I am writing to let you know that we are using The Peace Rug in our school library with much success. We do not "walk" on it, but have it in a safe place where it can be put out for ready use; where we can spread it out, sit down and talk together. Some Kindergarten students experienced difficulty on the playground one day, and told their teacher that they needed to go to the Peace Rug in the library. The two girls came and sat down together and were able to work out their differences and went away hand in hand. Later that day the teacher came to see what The Peace Rug was all about. She may be purchasing it for next year to have in her class. It is my hope that the children themselves will spread the word. Today a Third grader told me that he found your website online! Thank you for helping us all in an effort toward peace. Sincerely, Dr. Eleanor Fall, Librarian, Loudoun Country Day School, Leesburg, VA Dear Carol: I wanted to follow up with you in regards to our usage of the wonderful Peace Rug! We have been using the rug to help children with disabilities and behavior issues. The rug has given many children a chance to learn and solve problems. This has been a wonderful resource and tool to help children with conflict issues. I have seen several children find peace when they use the rug and have observed so many intense moments become a time of love. There is a corner in our Family Resource Center for this time for children to use the Peace Rug. The rug has shown so many children a way to dissolve their anger, work on communication skills, way to control unwanted behaviors. I just wanted to share this information with you and how things have been going. The Peace Rug has given children a way to cope with the storms they face and has kept them safe until they can work out their own plan! This has been a special opportunity and I look forward to keeping in touch with you and if I can send any further information, please let me know. Thank you so much for all that you do! Sincerely, Elaine Tillman, Community Resource Specialist, Springfield Regional Center, Springfield, MO "I was glad to see The Peace RugŪ recently featured on the front page of your paper. A Peace RugŪ was donated to John Johnson Elementary School by Mrs. June Faircloth some weeks ago, and it has been used on several occasions. While it is no magic wand, nothing is, it conveys an overall message that we do have choices and peace progress can be made if we make the right choices. Just having a place where we know the expected goal is peace also promotes the promise of compromise and friendship. I hope that eventually every classroom can have one. I can also envision the benefits of having one in the home to be used by family members. If enough of us work on peace in ourselves and promote peace with others, certainly there will be a peaceful difference made in our society. Thank you for promoting peaceful ideas." - Gloria Jenkins, School Counselor, John Johnson Elementary School, Bainbridge, Georgia "Please accept our appreciation for the donation of The Peace Rug to our school. Each day we face conflict resolution incidents between students, and many times between students and adults. Additionally, our students many times face violence in the home and out in the community. We will use The Peace Rug as an integral part of our conflict resolution curriculum. I intend to train my staff on the use of (The Peace) Rug and pursue acquiring additional rugs for each classroom. Your contribution is our starting point in truly becoming a violence-free school." - Richard A. Stidom, Naomi Elementary School Counselor upon receiving a gift of The Peace Rug from North Georgia Electrical Membership Corporation "I had used The Peace RugŪ when the children have come in from the playground upset about a situation. They talk about what happened and what they should have done differently; they shake hands and come out smiling. This is a great tool. I have children tell me that they need to go to The Peace RugŪ with someone and they solve their problems on their own without even involving me. It's great and saves time!" - Traci Hanks, Kindergarten Teacher, Westwood Elementary School, Dalton, Georgia. "My most memorable Peace RugŪ event was when I had been offended by a student who refused to do something I asked. I "took" the student to The Peace RugŪ in front of the rest of the class. I was able to model the language. The children responded positively." - Elaine Davis, Kindergarten Teacher at Brookwood School, Dalton, Georgia. "Last school year when I was counselor at Crossroads, an alternative school for children ages 12 to 18 in Whitfield County, Georgia, I was given The Peace RugŪ to use with my students. I can tell you from my own personal experience that The Peace RugŪ works! It really, really works! "When my students had a problem with another student, they went to The Peace RugŪ. They themselves worked out whatever the difficulty was. I even posted the simple script in large letters so they could read it if they forgot the words. It really made a difference, and the atmosphere in my school changed from being reactive to being proactive for the rest of the school year. "I received The Peace RugŪ late in the year, but ideally, starting the school year with this curriculum would be best for the students. I am now Assistant Principal in charge of Discipline at Dalton High School, and I want and need another Peace RugŪ donated! I had been a professional counselor for many years before serving in any school setting and believe from my professional training that students of all ages need this experience of finding their own voice and need to develop this skill. It belongs in every classroom!" - Ron Ward, MA, LPC, Assistant Principal, Dalton High School, Dalton, Georgia. "I have found that The Peace RugŪ has empowered many of my students to handle their own problems. They are less dependent on the teacher to address minor occurrences. Although preparing the students to effectively communicate their feelings takes a significant amount of time, it is well worth it. My instruction is interrupted significantly less with tattle telling since students can handle matters on their own. Problems that arise are handled primarily without the assistance of the teacher, which allows me to continue with other responsibilities. My students better understand that their actions affect others. They are learning that words can be used to solve problems and deal with emotion, rather than physical aggression. The Peace RugŪ has been a very worthwhile tool in my first grade classroom." - Dr. Amy Haynes, Literacy Coach for Whitfield County Schools "Students who were having problems with another child in the classroom would come and ask me if they could go to The Peace RugŪ. At times when I did not know that something was happening between two students, they would go to The Peace RugŪ and work out their problems. Sometimes I would not know what the situation was because they worked it out on their own without my having to intervene. They were learning to monitor their problems and work things out without an adult having to assist." - Lynnda G. Higgins, IEP Teacher, Roan School, Dalton, Georgia "My students have used The Peace RugŪ for the past two years to handle conflicts with each other. They will ask to go The Peace RugŪ without any prompting from me. This method of settling disagreements is so diplomatic because children are taking ownership for their problems and solving them in a non-hostile way. I applaud Helen for her remarkable behavior management invention!!!!" - Janice Griffin, First Grade Teacher, Park Creek School, Dalton, Georgia "I started using The Peace RugŪ as a single child thing, per the kids, you "think about it and make it better"...I've since discovered it's great for multiple kids. Several of my kids "thought" that if they wanted a particular toy, they could tell me "XXX is not sharing" and that I would automatically give the toy to them. Now I keep the toy and have them ALL go to The Peace RugŪ and have THEM decide what to do...I believe it starts them in decision-making skills. They usually go to another toy or game... fussing is down to almost zero now..." - Betsy Thornton, Pre-Kindergarten Teacher, Roan School, Dalton, Georgia "When children are given the chance to sit down with their "enemies" and work through problems in a special place that is not "time out," I have found that they take ownership in their decisions. They came up with a solution; one wasn't just given to them in haste to make things better and to move on." - Amy Huggins, Kindergarten Teacher, Kennesaw, Georgia "My students have shown a strong desire to work things out using The Peace RugŪ. When students have a conflict they often initiate going to The Peace RugŪ. They have worked hard to learn the positive dialogue to use at The Peace RugŪ. The Peace RugŪ has helped students to settle their own difficulties. It was well worth the time put into teaching the procedure." - Kandace Carter, First Grade Teacher, Park Creek School, Dalton, Georgia "The thing that I think is special and quite effective about The Peace RugŪ is that students CHOOSE to use it to solve problems. Often they will remember it before I do, and they will approach me and tell me that they are having problems with another student or that one has hurt their feelings, and then they say, "I think we need to go to The Peace RugŪ." I go on about my business of teaching while the 2 or 3 involved sit down and work out their issues. They usually come back from The Peace RugŪ with smiles rather than tears." - Leigh Watson, Third Grade Teacher, Ringgold, Georgia "...The Peace RugŪ is an inventive tool that teaches the children there's another person involved, not just themselves, thus fostering listening and empathy skills, both critical skills for functioning in the world. The children are learning to set blame aside and say what's bothering them in a nonviolent way. Most of all, The Peace RugŪ offers an option for solving conflict with others and the children are learning ways to approach conflict in a healthy way!..." - Michelle Lively, Second Grade Teacher, Brookwood Elementary, Dalton, Georgia "My children often use it when we come in from recess to resolve some problem they had on the playground. (Some cooked up things just to get to sit on it!) By the time, they had sat and discussed their problem/s, they usually were laughing!" - Judy Griffin, Second Grade Teacher, Brookwood Elementary, Dalton, Georgia "...there were 2 little girls who argued almost every day and ...I told them to go sit down on The Peace RugŪ and talk about it. They did and then took it upon themselves to go again. From that point on, they never had any problems." - Cindy Parrott, Kindergarten Teacher, Roan School, Dalton, Georgia "...I had two little girls that were mad at each other about something. They had been in trouble because of the way they were acting towards each other. I saw both of them approach me one day and I thought they were going to tell on each other again. Well, to my surprise, they looked at me and said, "Can we go to The Peace RugŪ for a few minutes and see if we can work this out?" Well, of course, I said yes and they weren't mad at each other anymore..." - Jan Gowan, Second Grade Teacher, Park Creek Elementary School, Dalton, Georgia
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