Kootenay High School Students to Work with Nobel Peace Laureates
Fundraising underway to finance trip to international youth peace; public invited to help

WHO: Students at the International School of the Kootenays (ISK)

WHAT: PeaceJam “Global Call to Action “ international youth peace conference

WHEN: September 11 – 13, 2008

WHERE: Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, California

DETAILS: A group of high school students from Nelson, Kaslo, and Argenta are busy fundraising this summer to pay for their conference fees to attend the “PeaceJam Global Call to Action,” an international youth peace conference to be held in September in Los Angeles. The students are among the first graduates of an elective peace studies course, “PeaceJam Ambassadors,” offered through the International School of the Kootenays. The course, as well as the conference, aspires to create a new generation of young leaders committed to positive change in themselves, their communities and the world by studying the inspiring examples of Nobel Peace Laureates. For info on PeaceJam visit www.peacejam.org.

The “PeaceJam Global Call to Action” conference will bring together 3,000 young people from more than 37 countries for sessions and workshops led by seven Nobel Peace Prize winners including Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa, Rigoberta Menchú Tum of Guatemala, and Betty Williams of Northern Ireland. The conference will contribute to a growing international youth peace movement, the Global Call to Action, which sees young people the world over designing their own projects to tackle the ten core issues which Nobel Laureates think are critical to the future of our planet including ending racism and hate, social justice and human rights for all, and rights for women and children.

The students have identified their own Global Call to Action that they’ll present to a Laureate in Los Angeles then embark upon after returning from the conference and to their studies at ISK for PeaceJam II. They will work on advancing peace education for primary, secondary, and high school students in the Kootenays.

To help defray the costs of participating in the conference, the students are fundraising to pay their conference fees. The public is invited to support the students’ efforts by making a tax-deductible contribution to the International School of the Kootenays. To donate or for more information, contact ISK at 250-354-1310 or go to www.iskhighschool.org.