Interesting Times!: PEACE POETRY CELEBRATION

Friday, 26 November 2010

PEACE POETRY CELEBRATION

I was really sorry that I missed the 8th Peace Poetry Celebration at the Civic Hall last night but my colleague Rehana Minhas, Director for Equality and Entitlement, sent me this e-mail after last night's event...

"Dear Chris, Our 8th annual peace poetry celebration was a great success. Families turned up to support their children as well as Head teachers and teaching staff. Our chief judge was Rommi Smith. The Deputy Lord Mayor Cllr. Patrick Davey opened the event and stayed to make presentations to the winners and runners up and certificates to all who had been short listed. The New World Steel Symphony Orchestra provided wonderful musical entertainment. The partnership between Education Leeds, Leeds City Council, Yorkshire Evening Post, Together for Peace , Trinity and all Saints and Arts at Trinity has grown and been sustained bringing creativity and innovation to the fore.

The primary school winner was Jameel from Hunslet Moor Primary School, and the runners up were Bethany Pinder and Carla House also from Hunslet Moor. The secondary school winner was Charlie Sykes from Woodkirk High. The runners up were Joshua Brown from Abbey Grange and Whitney Downing from Woodkirk Hiigh The Yorkshire Evening Post will be providing coverage of the event.

We had a surprise guest at the event, Ed Balls M.P. who spoke to the audience and as ever was very enthusiastic about the Stephen Lawrence Education Standard. He asked about the progress we have made in rolling out the standard nationally. Getting Ed Balls to our event form his meeting at the Civic was the genius of the Deputy Lord Mayor. Kind regards, Rehana."

It is great to see that the Peace Poetry Competition continues to excite schools and produce some wonderful poetry. I hope that it will continue to grow and develop and encourage more of our children and young people to see themselves as young poets.
Chris

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“I must accept life unconditionally. Most people ask for happiness on condition. Happiness can only be felt if you don't set any condition.”
Margaret Lee Runbeck

“Happiness is not in our circumstances but in ourselves. It is not something we see, like a rainbow, or feel, like the heat of a fire. Happiness is something we are.”
John B. Sheerin

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William L Shirer

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C.P. Snow

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Charles R. Wiers

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Paul Tournier

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Robert F. Kennedy

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Abraham Lincoln

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Ralph Waldo Emerson