Pinwheels for Peace was founded last year by two teachers from Florida when groups in more than 1,350 places planted more than half a million pinwheels throughout the world. When she heard about it, Pease thought it would be a perfect project for her girls. “I’m like, ‘Great! This is something my fifth-graders can handle,’” she said. She said to her scouts, peace is peace. It’s not political and does not have to be associated with war. It can mean peace of mind, peace within the community, a lack of violence or intolerance. “It can be something inside yourself personally, what is in your heart and what is in your head,” she said. “I have no idea how it can be offensive.”

Karen Paris, spokeswoman for the Murrieta Valley Unified School District (MVUSD), said several schools asked to participate in Pinwheels for Peace. “The official Pinwheels for Peace Web site proclaims that this day is about tolerance, peace of mind, cooperation and freedom from conflict with groups of people. After researching this event further, one of the stated purposes of the Day of Peace is to call for a ceasefire of the war in Iraq,” Paris said. She said that rather than participating in this Day of Peace (which could easily be interpreted by some to be a political statement against the war) MVUSD schools will “continue to celebrate non-violence, tolerance and cooperation as we do every day through our PLUS forums, lessons on diversity and equality, emphasis on the 40 Developmental Assets and the Character Counts program.” “Since we are a community rich in military families, we do not want to offend those families or discount the sacrifices they are making by joining in or promoting Pinwheels for Peace or the Day of Peace,” she said. Murrieta city officials were unable to immediately comment on the issue.

Since a couple of options were ruled out, Pease thinks she and her girls might walk neighborhoods on September 21 and plant them. “We’ve got 750 homeless pinwheels,” she said. The troop will be visible throughout the city of Murrieta during the month of September to help promote the International Day of Peace. As part of the creation process the girls would like to invite the public to help them create pinwheels. People are asked to write their thoughts about “war and peace/tolerance/living in harmony with others” on one side. On the other side, they can draw, paint, collage, etc. to visually express their feelings. The scouts will help assemble these pinwheels and on International Day of Peace they would like to “plant” the pinwheels within the city as a public statement and art exhibit/installation. They are currently looking for a home to plant their project.

On September 21, keep a lookout for the pinwheels — the spinning of the pinwheels in the wind will spread thoughts and feelings about peace throughout the country and the world, said Pease.

To learn more call Deborah Pease at (951) 526-2045.