Bemidji’s J.W. Smith Elementary Dedicates New Peace Pole

A new peace pole was put into the ground last week at a Bemidji elementary school.

In 1955, the first ever peace pole was dedicated, and in the 70 years since then, the movement has grown to feature more than 250,000 worldwide. Several poles are located around Bemidji, including one in the front of J.W. Smith Elementary.

After community members pointed out that the original pole was in less-than-ideal condition, a brand new one was bought and dedicated. Every peace pole sports the words “May peace prevail on Earth” in different languages.

“So we got English, Mandarin Chinese, Tagalog, Gujarati, Spanish, Anishinaabe, Norwegian, and Thai, because those languages are represented by students in our school,” explained J.W. Smith Elementary Principal Bruce Goodwin. “Many of the languages are their first language, so we’re very fortunate to have a student body that is very culturally diverse.”

Along with connecting students with their native languages, the goal of the peace pole is to teach them about peace. J.W. Smith students gathered around to hear words about peace and about how big of an impact simply being kind can be for others.

“These messages of peace and the things that we do and promote kindness and all that—the earlier we can get that message to kids, the better off we’ll be,” added Goodwin. “They all signed a document that’s within this pole promoting peace, and they learn through this process of this dedication. And I think they did great.”

The new peace pole was donated by Bemidji community members John and Kathy Eggers and Susie and Vance Balstad. Every peace pole is funded by donations in an effort to remind people to let peace prevail on Earth.