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WFHA Creates Hundreds of Pinwheels for Peace

Joint project with neighboring Japanese School

The entrance to Westchester Fairfield Hebrew Academy’s campus looked as if spring had sprung, despite the early autumn weather.

Blooming from the earth were not colorful flowers, but hundreds of whimsical pinwheels, created by the school’s students to commemorate International Day of Peace on September 21^st.

“The school-wide art project had students making their ownpinwheels, using colors, symbols, words, illustrations and poems that they felt symbolized peace,” said art teacher Lori Amer.

WFHA joined with the Greenwich Japanese School, which leases a portion of the 17-acre campus, to complete the project, she said.

Close to 400 pinwheels whirled in unison, greeting campus visitors and creating a public visual statement about peace, tolerance, cooperation and harmony.

WFHA is one of hundreds of schools and organizations to participate in the annual Pinwheels for Peace project, joining peers around the globe as far away as New Zealand, China, South Africa and Israel, Amer said.

The project was a visual tie-in to International Day of Peace, as well as a way discuss Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, a time when it is important to reflect on how to make peace with friends, loved ones and the community, Amer said.

“Making the pinwheel helped me think about different ways to think about peace and what peace means in my life,” said eighth grader Toby Dresdner, who decorated her pinwheel with a rainbow, a globe and a quote from the John Lennon song, “Imagine.”

“The world is not peaceful at this moment, and today people from all over come together and think about how to make our world a peaceful place,” Toby said.

In class, students read books, studied song lyrics and viewed art representing peace, such as Edward Hicks’s, “Peaceable Kingdom.” The older students wrote poems incorporating the themes of peace.

The project is the brainchild of two Florida art teachers, who wanted to create a way for their students to express their feelings about what is going on in the world and in their lives, Amer said.

The teachers chose pinwheels because the childhood toy reminds people of a time in their life that is simple, joyful and peaceful, Amer said.

Since 2005, the project has grown to more than 2 million pinwheels planted in hundreds of countries across the globe, according to the Pinwheels for Peace website.