Syracuse Seeds Voices: Building a Force of Peace in Syracuse High Schools

Syracuse Seeds Voices: Building a Force of Peace in Syracuse High Schools

By Jose Cossa

This year, for two weeks, 23 Syracuse high school students participated in the Seeds of Peace camp in Otsfield, Maine, from July 23 to August 6. The group comprised students from the five Syracuse City School District high schools, namely Fowler, Nottingham, Institute of Technology at Central (ITC), Henninger, and Corcoran. Six, of the 23 students, were returning Seeds or Peer Supporters (PS), who participated in a leadership training program designed for returning Seeds, and 17 first-time campers. InterFaith Works, through its Community Wide Dialogue, conducts Dialogue training sessions for the Syracuse campers.

Photo by Bobbie Gottschalk, Co-Founder, Seeds of Peace

Seeds Voices

The experience that marked me the most was when me and Damian were a team in the High Ropes challenge. I couldn’t believe my own eyes […] when I think back at that time , the moment I was so  scared that I dared not to take one more step to get to the other pole, he constantly encourage  me  by staying side-by-side and hand-in-hand;  he helped me so much , that I [now] realize [the importance of] Team Work. [An Kha, First-Year Camper, Fowler High School]

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Being a part of the first Peer Support (PS) group ever to attend the Syracuse-Maine Session of Seeds of Peace was a truly life changing experience because 19 other teenagers from the Syracuse City School District and high schools all across Maine and I had the opportunity to not only further our leadership skills but also attend camp as PSs which not many get to do. Seeds of Peace is an amazing organization but experiencing it first hand is something that truly cannot be explained. I felt like I was making a difference and that feeling hasn't stopped since I've returned home because we have great advisors in Syracuse and lots of new Seeds with new insight and new ideas to create a better community and city. [Ella Neville, Peer Supporter, Nottingham High School]

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The Seeds of Peace [camp] is a life changing experience. It has thought me to be a great leader and has made realize that there always a way to solve problems without violence. [Abdinoor Mohamed, Peer Support, Nottingham High School]

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Seeds of Peace changed my life in more ways than one. In camp, many times you will be asked to sum up your experience in one word; the same few words would be repeated several times. Some common ones were intense, awesome, fun, etc.. This exercise would always be very difficult for me because there wasn’t a word that summed up the feelings of friendship, love, peace, acceptance, yet also urgency to make a difference accurately. I ended up choosing indescribable. [Ranya Shannon, First-Year Camper, Nottingham High School]

Photo by Bobbie Gottschalk, Co-Founder, Seeds of Peace