Romeoville School Wins Prestigious 'Pennies For Peace' Award

ROMEOVILLE, IL -- Central Asia Institute (CAI) and Pennies for Peace announced that A.Vito Martinez Middle School is one of six schools worldwide to receive the Peace Leader Award.

The Peace Leader Awards recognize students and educators around the world who have committed to a cause and made a difference in their own community and in the lives of people half a world away.

“When teachers and students embrace the Pennies for Peace program it can have a profound effect on students,” said CAI’s Executive Director Jim Thaden. “We are honored to award these schools with the Peace Leader Award for their dedication, compassion and commitment to helping their fellow students no matter how far away.”

Other 2017 Peace Leader Award honorees are Foothill Elementary School, Santa Barbar a, California; Robinson Barracks Elementary School, Stuttgart, Germany; Muncie Central High School, Latin Club, Muncie, Indiana; Justin Wynn Leadership Academy, Evanston, Illinois; and Halton Hills Christian School, Ontario, Canada.

For more than 20 years CAI and Pennies for Peace have educated students about the world beyond their own experience and teach them to make a positive impact on a global scale – one penny at a time.

The Pennies for Peace service-learning program teaches students that while a penny in the United States has little worth, in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Tajikistan, a penny can open the door to an education for many students. Pennies for Peace and CAI have funded more than 190 schools that focus on community-based education, especially for girls, and supported the education of more than 100,000 students in Central Asia—where an education provides the opportunity to break the cycle of extreme poverty, violence, and war.

In the United States, the program enables students to broaden their cultural horizons and come to understand their own capacity as philanthropists.

Photo: Pennies for Peace executives present the prestigious Peace Leader Award to Martinez Middle School Principal Bill Normand and Pennies for Peace coordinator Allison Kucharski.

Submitted by Valley View School District