NEWS RELEASES
Contact News and Information
(972) 925-3900

As the nation's eleventh largest school district, Dallas Independent School District serves more than 160,000 students who come from homes where 58 different languages are spoken.  Operating with a $1 billion dollar budget, DISD employs 18,613 employees including 10,000 teachers in 220 schools

Service Organization Sponsors PeaceBuilders Program in DISD School

26 Jul 2000

Karen Rogers, principal of Amelia Earhart Learning Center, welcomed the opportunity when she was approached last year by a service organization that wanted to sponsor a violence reduction program. The national program creates a school environment in which adults and children work together to build a positive learning climate.

A member of Zonta International, the Zonta Club of Dallas 3 introduced Rogers to the PeaceBuilders Violence Prevention Program. Developed by Heartsprings, Inc., the PeaceBuilders curriculum teaches students from an early age a set of behaviors that parlays into a peaceful and positive atmosphere.

Trained by national PeaceBuilders specialists, the Dallas Independent School District personnel will conduct a workshop for the professional staff at the Earhart Learning Center (3531 N. Westmoreland) from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday, July 27. The financial support of Zonta Club of Dallas 3 helps make the training possible at the center. The summer training affords teachers the opportunity to begin the PeaceBuilders curriculum at the start of school, Aug. 14.

The club sponsors the PeaceBuilders program as a part of its organization's mission to significantly reduce violence against women and children said Jenine Bucker, club president.

“The members of the Zonta Club of Dallas 3 are convinced that the PeaceBuilders program provides a strong and viable approach to combatting violence,” Bucker said. “The program's objectives fit perfectly with one of Zonta's goals: to eradicate violence against women and children. We are excited to support its introduction within DISD at Amelia Earhart.”

Encouraged by the potential positive impact the program will have on students and teachers, Rogers believes partnerships with service organizations benefit the community and the school enormously.

“When we find common ground between schools and outside organizations, it says we trust each other to work toward common goals in a way that will benefit both of us,” Rogers said.

The Zonta Club of Dallas 3 selected the Amelia Earhart Learning Center in honor of one of its founding members: Amelia Earhart, a world-renowned pilot. Zonta International, founded in Buffalo, New York, in 1919 is a service organization of executive and professional women working to improve the status of women in the legal, political, economic, educational, health and professional arenas.