Peace Rocks at Amityville Memorial High School

To foster a peaceful school community and encourage tolerance and respect, Amityville Memorial High School teacher Jason McGowan initiated a unique program that encourages students to be on the lookout for their peers who are engaged in positive behavior. The idea for “Peace Rocks” is simple, yet profound. Using rocks about the size of golf balls that are painted with bright colors and adorned with peace signs, Mr. McGowan gave four student leaders one peace rock each. When a leader witnesses another student engaging in a positive action, he or she gives that student a peace rock, along with an explanation of the positive behavior he or she witnessed the recipient engaging in. The person who receives the rock holds onto it until they catch another student doing something good, and then passes the rock to him or her with an explanation. Whoever receives and passes along a peace rock goes to the main office, where they pick up an index card and write on it what he or she did to receive the rock on one side, and why they passed the rock along on the other side. Index cards get dropped in the Peace Rock Box, which, by the end of the school year, contains a chronicle of the travels of the peace rocks, and a written record of the many positive behaviors exhibited by the students who kept the rock moving around the building.
“We want to keep the rocks going all year so that students can see that they are capable of changing the climate of the building by passing along peace” said Mr. McGowan, who also facilitates Awareness Day, Awareness Weekend, and Amityville Secret, other programs whose goals are to bring the students of the high school together and promote unity among the student body.