The Rotary Club of Marlton will be installing two new Peace Poles, one at Richard Rice Elementary School and one at Robert Jaggard Elementary School, later this month. Installation will be completed by the schools as approved by School Superintendent Dr. Justin Smith, who announced his retirement back in April. Smith’s successor Dr. Diana Vasil will start effective Dec. 1.
“Not only is it a symbol of peace, it’s a daily reminder that peace is possible and that you can help create it in your own community,” said Pete Bertheaud, president of the Rotary Club of Marlton. “That’s how we bring it back to Marlton because with kids – especially – peace is one bigger idea that maybe they can’t wrap their heads around, but kindness is a version of peace. Kindness and peace… That’s what we want to prevail in our community.”
Peace Poles carry the message of peace in the languages of the world. They are recognized as the most prominent international symbol and monument dedicated to peace on earth. Peace Poles have been planted on every continent in over 200,000 communities by friends and supporters working in unison to uplift the consciousness of humankind, according to the Peace Pole Project website.
The dedication at Rice Elementary will be held at 10 a.m. on Monday, Nov. 23, and at Jaggard Elementary at 9 a.m. on Nov. 24. Peace Pole Project Chair Dr. Marci Wolfe, who also serves as the club’s treasurer, saw an article in the August 2024 Rotary Magazine about the Rotary Peace Poles. She thought it was a wonderful idea, so she presented it to the group, and they decided to install a Peace Pole at each of the elementary schools in the Evesham district. It took a while to get the ball rolling, but last year the club installed a pole at Helen Beeler Elementary School and one at Marlton Elementary School. The club met with Smith and the school principals to determine the languages displayed, and they collectively decided on English, Spanish, Chinese, Arabic, Hebrew, Japanese, Turkish and Russian. Each of the languages say, ‘May Peace Prevail On Earth.’
Earlier this year, the principals at Rice and Jaggard and members of the club decided on the languages displayed according to the school’s individual demographics. For Rice, the message will be displayed in English, Spanish, Italian, Arabic, Chinese, Tamil, Polish and Urdu. Jaggard’s Peace Pole message will be displayed in English, Spanish, Arabic, Korean, Greek, Hindi, Ukrainian and Urdu. The club is planning on installing two Peace Poles each year, and then potentially branching out from there and selecting alternate locations.
“We don’t get a chance to go into the schools all that much, but having a chance to engage with the younger people of Marlton and get them thinking about serving their fellow man and being kind to their fellow man, that is very important, and it’s uplifting for us as club members to see young people reminded that we’re all part of a bigger thing here, and this is a symbol of that,” Bertheaud said. “We are all from the same community and we need to pull together, and we need to be kind to one another and treat each other with respect, and seeing that message get across with putting the poles in is the best part.”
The Rotary Club of Marlton’s Peace Pole dedication ceremony at Helen Beeler Elementary School last year.
