HOLMES BEACH – Anna Maria Elementary (AME) students expressed hopes for peace at the school’s 17th Annual Peace Day last Friday on the front lawn of the campus.
The annual celebration began after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon when thousands of Americans lost their lives. The Rotary Club of Anna Maria Island helped the school’s effort by purchasing a Peace Pole, a monument that displays the message “May Peace Prevail on Earth.”
The theme of this year’s celebration was “The Right to Peace” and after speeches by AME Principal Jackie Featherston and Rotary Club Past President Judy Rup, the attendees stood for the Star-Spangled Banner and Pledge of Allegiance.
The Manatee High School Drumline performed as AME students marched with them with flags of other countries, many of them home nations of Island students.
Students of each grade performed songs or read essays and poetry of peace.
AME Guidance Counselor Susan Tabicman organized this year’s celebration and said it went well, adding that events like these could hopefully plant the seeds for a better world in the future.