From left: Peace Games steering committee members, Carol Ng BC '03, Seth Morris CC '01, Marissa Buzzeo BC '01, Sarah Wolf BC '01, Michelle Braun CC '01, Meredith Pasmantier CC '01, Program Director Caroline Whalen BC' 01, Will Hunter CC '02 and below, Program Director Randy Aussenberg CC '01.

More than 1,000 New York City public school fourth and fifth graders and 150 Columbia University volunteers participated in the eighth annual "Peace Games" festival on April 27 at Riverbank State Park. Peace Games New York City is the largest, entirely student-run community service program at Columbia.

Columbia undergraduate volunteers involved in Peace Games make weekly classroom visits, which aim to educate, motivate and challenge students to recognize choices and consequences in conflict both in the community and on individual levels. The annual festival is the culmination of their year-long commitment to non-violent conflict resolution and a chance for the elementary school students to show off the skills that they have acquired throughout the year.

This year's festival included fourth and fifth grade classes from Mott Hall and public schools 181, 166, 132 and 115. The children from the Morningside and Washington Heights schools were divided into separate groups and participated in a series of "win- win" games. The games deal with the different stages in the escalation and de-escalation of a conflict. In addition to the advantage of no losers these games stress the multiple ways to look at a situation.

One elementary school student said he liked Peace Games because it taught him the positive consequences of defusing a conflict versus the negative consequences of agitating it. Another felt she would do better in junior high school because the program had made her "a peacemaker."

In addition to the student body the program also impacts the student leader volunteers at Columbia and Barnard by creating a passion for teaching and those involved tend to stick with it. Michelle Braun CC' 01, the program's public relations coordinator and part of the 30-member steering committee, has been involved since her first year and has decided to pursue a career in educational policy. Braun says that many volunteers sign on with Teach For America, a program for recent college graduates of all academic majors who commit themselves to teach in urban and rural public schools for two years.

Beth Nappleton, BC 00, for example, signed on with Teach for America and currently teaches a fifth grade class at P.S. 132, the school she volunteered for while involved with Peace Games. Nappleton, Peace Games program director during her last two years at Barnard, says she loves the program because it "empowers both students and student leaders by exposing two populations to each other who otherwise wouldn't have been able to interact."

Seth Morris, CC'01, has also signed on with Teach for America and has committed to teach two years in Los Angeles. Since there is no Peace Games program in the area, he is hoping to start one to benefit the children he will be working with.

Those who do not go on to Teach for America still truly enjoy mentoring and interacting with the children. Jen Hensley, BC 00, can no longer participate in the program as an alumna but will continue to volunteer at the annual festival because she misses "the hands on way to be in children's lives."

Although the student organization needs to raise $30,000 to $40,000 annually to cover the cost of the festival, many on the steering committee think the program and its rewards are well worth the effort.

Peace Games originated in 1990 when Francelia Butler, Professor Emeritus of Children's Literature at the University of Connecticut at Storrs, proposed a new method of teaching negotiation skills and conflict resolution to young people. In 1992, the program moved to Harvard's Phillips Brooks House under the direction of David Wang, who then bought it to Columbia with a Stride Right Fellowship. Peace Games was introduced to New York City public schools in 1993.

Peace Games New York City is one of the founding contributors of Peace by PEACE International, a non-profit organization that facilitates the expansion of similar Peace programs at college campuses throughout the United States and Canada.

To start a Peace Games Program in New York contact Peace by Peace New York, 204 Earl Hall, mail code 2010, New York, NY 10027.