Fieldstone is First Middle School to Implement Full “Power of Peace”

At Fieldstone Middle School, intersectional community building is taking root thanks to the efforts of Michael Arterberry and his program, The Power of Peace. This program, implemented in groups of 20 students over the course of 2-days, takes both the kids and the teachers on a journey of empathy, discovery, and understanding. 

Arterberry, the founder of the Youth Voices Center based in New Rochelle, created the program based on his own childhood experience and the care and attention he felt he could have benefited from. The ultimate goal of his work is to provide students with a voice and with a community of peers equipped with the ability to hear that voice loud and clear. 

Over the course of the two to four day program, groups of students are given activities meant to build understanding between people with different life experiences. In each group of students are representatives from all walks of life. Black or white, rich or poor, students of all walks of life are welcomed into the groups and are taught skills to become “Peace Ambassadors”. Activities include one called “Concentric Circles,” where students are placed in two circles and are meant to rotate around the room, asking each participant five questions meant to curate deep conversations and empathy. 

Arterberry began the program in 2006, and has since seen it implemented across New York State, the North East region, and the whole country including at a school in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Arterberry says his goal is to implement the program at as many schools that need it. It’s not just school age children Arterberry works with either; Arterberry has worked with adults in office settings as well as bringing teachers into the program to participate with their students. 

The program had been designed for high school students, with an abridged version available for middle schoolers. However, racial and class disparities that divide a given student body often form well before high school, and with this knowledge Arterberry and Fieldstone Middle School have implemented the full curriculum. This move makes Fieldstone the first middle school to institute the full scope of the program. 

Arterberry, initially nervous that the younger students weren’t going to be able to grasp the more abstract concepts the program grapples with, was pleasantly surprised with the maturity and understanding of the middle schoolers at Fieldstone and is seeking to expand the program to many more middle and high schools in the future. His ultimate message is that “ we have to take the struggles of our lives and find proper perspective on it.” 

Learn more about Arterberry and his program at youthvoicescenter.org/.