Announced as an official club on Nov. 7, Teens for Peace presents opportunities to meet students beyond campus while supporting the community.  The club is about creating a friendly school environment and spreading peace through service projects.

“It’s a good way to make friends.  It’s a really laid-back environment,” treasurer and senior Mali Suzuki said.

This new club has grown from the universal organization Kids for Peace and has been through a long process to be accepted by the school board.  Finally recognized as a club, the officers have already been publicizing and planning the ordering of T-shirts.

“We want to spread the peace by starting hands-on projects among teenagers,” co-president and senior Jinny Jeon said.

The first community service event held involved the young students at Jefferson Elementary.  Following the first line of their Peace Pledge, the members sacrificed their lunch time to teach the kids leadership through the influence of words.

“We helped them set up their own activities that they were going to do, community service-wise,” secretary and senior Allison Berkowitz said.  “One of the groups was going to collect recyclables to pay the medical bills for kids in Africa.”

These types of major service projects will unite the new club.  One that is being heavily focused on is the Bucks for Bed project, a fundraiser to collect money for the children of the Fiwagoh Orphanage.

“Our first goal would be Bucks for Beds, where we raise money to buy beds for the people of Africa,”Jeon said.

Later in the year, a meeting will be dedicated to decorating of Peace Packs and filling them with school supplies  for the less fortunate living in the area.  These community out-reaches provide the foundation which the club was inspired from and hopefully, will be carried out throughout the entire school year.