Harmony Day II

Peace Students Find Out What RESPECT Means

Julie Polk, director of high school relations at Northwestern Business College, speaks to Peace students about leadership styles and the importance of having a positive attitude during the school’s Harmony Day program on Feb. 28. Polk is a 1988 Peace graduate.

Members of Peace’s Human Rights Task Force, (front) Sara Majewski and Michaele Strauch group dedicated to raising public awareness on issues such as discrimination and women’s rights, spoke to the student body about a growing problem in the U.S.– human trafficking – during the Feb. 28 Harmony Day event.

Motivational speaker Jan Irwin discusses ethnicity, race and gender throughout history, showing students that mutual respect for each other’s differences and similarities can lead to empowerment.

Burbank, IL – March 10, 2008 – On Feb. 28, Queen of Peace High School showed its students the true meaning of respect during its full-day Harmony program at the school, entitled Respect Rules. The objective of the day was to improve the community’s awareness and understanding of respect issues in the local and greater global community.

Students evaluated issues related to respect within the Peace community by examining the impact of bullying and cliques in the movie Odd Girl Out, a 2005 teledrama about the struggles of a 13-year-old dealing with peer pressure from middle school students. This film is based on the advice book Odd Girl Out: The Hidden Culture of Aggression in Girls by Rachel Simmons. It sheds light on the topic of girls' hostility and bullying which is usually non-physical, indirect and hard to detect. Simmons tells the reader that this problem is harmful, destructive and usually ignored, leaving victims to suffer in silence.

Teachers led discussions about the film, during which students related their own experiences with bullying and cliques. They discussed the harmful impact such relational aggression can have on one’s self esteem and the community.

Self esteem issues also were connected with developing leadership skills. Julie Polk, director of high school relations for Northwestern Business College and a 1988 Peace graduate, conducted a leadership seminar for Peace students that focused on preparing them for the future.

Entitled Your Time to Shine, the leadership workshop trained students to recognize negative factors that contribute to poor attitudes and low self esteem – be it poor grades or family conflict. Understanding the big picture, hanging out with positive people, and avoiding comparison with others were just a few of the ways discussed to combat poor attitudes and low self esteem.

Polk presented students with the qualities that make someone a leader, including loyalty, enthusiasm and commitment. She discussed the difference between authority and leadership.

“Leaders are not born. They are made. A leader is not someone with power, authority, or wealth but rather someone who guides, motivates, inspires humility, and believes she can make dreams a reality,” Polk said.

To understand global violations of basic human dignity and respect, Peace’s Human Rights Task Force presented a workshop to students on human trafficking. The task force began the presentation by playing a game with the audience, asking members to guess the prices of various every day products. At the end of the game, the task force asked, “and what price would you put on a human life.”

The Human Rights group startled the audience with shocking statistics. Between 600,000 and 900,000 men and women are trafficked each year. 45,000 women and children are trafficked into the U.S. a year, which is one person every 10 minutes.

The group explained that most trafficked people are sold into the multi-million dollar commercial sex trade, where they are subjected to rape, torture, brutal beatings, and are unable to escape because traffickers and pimps hold victims’ personal information. The goal of this presentation was to raise awareness of the problem, open students’ minds and hearts, share the stories of those who managed to survive and escape, and call students to action.

At the conclusion of the eye-opening presentation, the Human Rights Task Force discussed ways Peace students can help. “Use your hands to liberate and free these trafficked people. Join us by signing a symbolic petition to end this modern day slavery. Join us in letter writing campaigns. Purchase freedom key chains with all profits going to help the victims of trafficking.”

Tying the Harmony program together, motivational guest speaker Jan Irwin linked ethnicity, race, and gender to future success through mutual respect. She began her presentation with a brief history of ethnic groups in Chicago including: the Irish, Polish, Italian, Hispanic, and African American communities. She discussed how each community of people has been devalued and disrespected in various ways throughout history.

In her discussion of the African American slave woman experience, Irwin showed students that women regardless of race or ethnicity helped each other. “Throughout history, there have been bold, gutsy, graceful women who have helped each other and paved the way for you. We must respect our history and the women who have made it possible for us to be here.”

Irwin summed up what the young Women of Peace were to take away from this Harmony Day. “Respect the great and varied history of America and Chicago. The community at Queen of Peace brings the very best of what the city has to offer – Irish, German, Polish, Italian, African American, Hispanic, and women helping women. This is your time, your century. When you graduate, you will walk toward a path of purpose that has been paved by those before you but can only be defined by you.”

###