PRESS RELEASE FROM: Denver Southeast Rotary Club
Legendary folk singer Peter Yarrow, of Peter, Paul & Mary, was inducted today to the Denver Southeast Rotary Club as an honorary member in acknowledgement of his partnership with the Club and Rotary District 5450 for The Peaceful Schools Program through Operation Respect.
The Peaceful Schools Program was developed in Denver in the fall of 2013, under the leadership of Rotarian Carole Baumbusch and piloted in 3 classrooms in the spring of 2014. Not only did the classroom teachers and students love the program, but they wanted it back the following fall, as did other teachers. It expanded to 6 schools and multiple classrooms in the 2014/2015 school year and it continues to grow.
“As of February 2016, we are in 15 elementary schools in the area and 50 classrooms teaching important social and emotional skills to more than 750 elementary school children and hundreds of high school students who are trained and delivering the program in these schools. We also have 15-20 additional Rotary clubs currently evaluating the program for implementation in their clubs and local schools in the fall of 2016,” said Baumbusch.
Peter Yarrow had been a champion of the program and instrumental in connecting Rotary to this important cause. Teaching young children to get along peacefully and respect one another is one of the most important lessons they need and perfectly aligns with Rotary’s service mission: to provide service to others, promote integrity, and advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace through its fellowship of business, professional, and community leaders.
Club President, Mick Richardson said: “We are exceedingly proud of this effort. Our club is active all over Denver, but this effort is one of our most successful. Peter Yarrow has been at our District Conference promoting involvement and thanks to his ambassadorship, we have built a great team. We are proud to have him as an honorary member.”
In the photos above, Peter receives his honorary Rotarian membership and treats the members to a performance. The students in the background are from Cherry Creek High School's Interact Club, a Rotary high school program. They are some of the people trained to deliver the Peaceful School's message in the elementary schools.
For further information, please contact Kim DeCoste at 303-588-2733
###########
For more about COBRT's involvement with Peter Yarrow, see this story too.