Conflict and resolution now walk hand-in-hand across a pair of peace paths at Wilderness Oak Elementary School. Reagan High School senior and Eagle Scout candidate Foster Simonsen designed and installed the project over the summer. He measured and painted the squares, selected the visual aids and phrases that now border both of the playgrounds on campus.
“The goal of the peace path is to help kids with conflict resolution,” said Simonsen. “It’s so important to develop these skills, find a fair solution and cooperate with others even when you disagree with them.”
Students working out their disagreement on the peace path face each other on opposite sides of the squares, read the words out loud and fill in the ending of each phrase. Activities like this are vital to developing social and emotional learning skills.
“This is a great visual tool that our students can use to have a conversation that’s not always easy to start,” said Elias Harrington, Wilderness Oak Principal. “When the kids see and embrace the visual cues on the peace paths, we can bring that back into the classroom as well. It ties into what Wilderness Oak is all about.”
The final service project on Foster’s road to becoming an Eagle Scout is a personal one. His mother, Leslie Simonsen, teaches students receiving special education services at Wilderness Oak. Foster is a senior at Reagan and wanted to find a way to give back to the community that helped shape him during his most formative years.
“I wanted to do this project specifically because I’ve loved going to school in the Reagan area and I’ve loved all of the teachers that I’ve had,” said Simonsen. “I wanted to help other kids be happy at school and find a way to get along with their peers so they can continue to build those skills for the rest of their life.”
Simonsen is in the process of finalizing the paperwork for his Eagle Scout service project and will present his peace paths for approval in the coming weeks.
