Daily Archives: September 7, 2005

In the City of Brotherly Love, community activists seeking an alternative to the local school district’s two military academies successfully pushed for the creation of a high school devoted to educating students about nonviolent solutions to conflict. Yesterday marked the official opening of the Parkway Northwest High School for Peace and Social Justice, a magnet school with an enrollment of over 250 students from grades nine through twelve.

What distinguishes this school from other schools in Philadephia is its “rigorous academic program including the study of peace, violence prevention and social justice issues” and its commitment to teach students “conflict resolution and problem solving skills to effect positive change, locally and globally”.

For more information about Parkway Northwest High, click here.

Online Guide to Mediation is pleased to announce that a new interview is now available at ADR All-Stars, our special companion blog featuring interviews with extraordinary individuals who have influenced or contributed in significant ways to the alternative dispute resolution field.

Our latest interview spotlights Tammy Lenski, Ed.D. Tammy, a highly respected educator and leader in the alternative dispute resolution field here in the U.S., is the founder of Lenski Strategic, LLC, a company based in Dublin, New Hampshire, which provides ADR services nationally, with a special and unique focus on the needs of women in leadership roles in business and the workplace.

Tammy is also the publisher of Strategic Conversations, a blog devoted to ADR and negotiation strategies for women.

For the full text of the interview, which includes Tammy’s reflections and insights on mediation education and training, the needs of women in the workplace, and new directions for the dispute resolution field, please click here.

Anyone who still bears psychic scars from childhood games of dodgeball (a game–with distinct Hobbesian overtones in which only the fittest survive–once popular on playgrounds throughout the U.S.) will rejoice to learn that many schools are working actively to introduce children to nonviolent games of cooperation, as articles here and here indicate.

Support and inspiration for these kinds of efforts often comes from organizations like Peaceful Playgrounds, whose goals include reducing injuries (over 200,000 children injured annually on playgrounds here in the U.S.), decreasing violence and bullying, and encouraging educational and purposeful play. A conflict resolution component forms part of the overall Peaceful Playgrounds program.

For more information, you can visit the Peaceful Playgrounds web site. (Dodgeball fans, on the other hand, can visit the official web site for the International Dodge Ball Federation.)