Mastering peacemaking is the key skill of our time. In an increasingly connected world, our ability to form healthy and productive relationships, particularly across lines of difference, to care for one another, and to work with others to improve the lives of others has no other parallel.

The Peace First model teaches students to work effectively with others to resolve conflicts, solve community problems, communicate ideas effectively, and form positive social relationships. As students progress through our curriculum at each developmental level, from Pre-K through 8th grade, they develop the courage and compassion they need to see themselves as leaders and to act with empathy toward others.

Our curriculum features two categories of lessons, which reflect our peacemaking model:

• Peacemaker Skills lessons focus on a core set of knowledge and skills which build students’ peacemaking skills of communication, cooperation, conflict resolution, empathy and civic engagement using a cooperative learning approach.
• The Peacemaker Project lessons help students identify a community problem they wish to address, and design a creative solution in the form of a Community Service Learning (CSL) project or Peacemaker Project. Ranging from the very local (school bullies) to the global (helping refugees), Peacemaker projects enable students to collaborate and put their new peacemaking skills into action to effect change at an age-appropriate level.