Gullett Elementary celebrates International Day of Peace

The B.D. Gullett Elementary School peace pole serves as the monument which greets students every morning before school while their parents drop them off for the day. Monday, Sept. 21, those students got to learn a little about the peace pole and why peace is important. 

Gullett has had a dedication ceremony for the pole for 8 years, after the East Manatee Rotary Club donated it to the school. The pole reads "may peace prevail on earth," and Gullet students stood up today to repeat the phrase in Lebanese, French, Spanish, Chinese, Russian and Bosnian. Other students talked about the importance of world peace, and how to contribute by making peace with classmates, siblings, friends and parents. 

The school's administrators, Principal Dr. Shirin Gibson and Assistant Principal Mike Kelley, spoke at the dedication, along with school guidance counselor, Monica Rice, and Rotary member Russ Russo.

"Each and every one of us have an obligation to promote peace," Rice said. 

Students also decorated paper doves for the assembly, representing the work of Pablo Picasso, who created the emblem of a dove for the first International Peace Conference, held in Paris in 1949.