MANSFIELD — Creating a culture of peace doesn’t happen overnight.
That’s why Tom Hager wants to reinforce a year’s worth of lessons with one final push.
Mansfield City Schools will host its first Peace on My Block Fair Community Fair on May 16 at Arlin Field. The event will be aimed at the district’s kindergarten through 8th grade students.
“It’s kind of driving home, ‘let’s have a peaceful summer, send out a positive vibe to our families and our kids,'” said Hager, the principal at Malabar Intermediate School.
The event begins at 5:30 and lasts until 9 p.m. Children’s activities will include bouncy houses, a climbing wall and horseback riding. There will also be a DJ, a dunk tank, speed pitch and fireworks.
Hager said Arlin Field used to host the city’s Fourth of July festivities decades ago.
“Fireworks have not been displayed at Arlin Field since the mid-1980s. That was a traditional for years,” he said. “Hopefully this will start something that can be an annual thing.”
Admission to the community fair is free. Eight food trucks will be onsite with items for purchase.
Partner organizations will be onsite to provide information and resources to families, as well as children’s games. Hager said Community Action for Capable Youth (CACY), Catalyst Life Services, Community Health Access Project (CHAP), the Mansfield Fire Department, Third Street Family Health Services, the Girl Scouts and the YMCA have all agreed to participate.
Local organizations including banks, businesses, the booster club and Crossroads Community Church have donated a collective $13,000 to help cover the costs of the event.
“Hopefully we can make this an annual event and build on what you guys are doing,” board president Chris Elswick said following Hager’s presentation.
Supt. Stan Jefferson said there will be another event to promote Peace on My Block geared towards high school students prior to the start of school.
During a recent school board meeting, Hager told the board that several safety measures will be in place for the event, including a nurses’ station and the presence of the school safety team, dozens of staff members and representatives from the Mansfield Police Department.
Backpacks and outside beverages will not be allowed. Attendees should plan to park in stadium parking lot south of the football field.
Hager said the district will also be airing Peace on My Block promotional videos during the fair.
“Some of our kids at Malabar have created videos,” he said. “We’re trying to get community members doing Peace on My Block videos about why peace on their block is important.”
Peace on My Block seeks volunteer mentors for Malabar program
The Peace on My Block initiative was the brainchild of We ACT co-founders Brigitte Coles and Angel Singleton. It started with encouraging students across the district to take a pledge — vowing to reject violence and build peace in their school, community, city and world.
Since then, Mansfield City Schools has expanded the mission by hanging signs throughout the district promoting peace. Teachers wear matching red shirts every Wednesday as a visual reminder of the blood shed during a rash of senseless violence in 2023. They also take time to talk to their students about peaceful conflict resolution.
At Malabar, a new mentorship project is further reinforcing those lessons.
The pilot program paired around 25 fifth and sixth graders with community mentors at the beginning of the school year. These mentors meet with small groups of students twice a month to focus on social and emotional skills.
“We talk about accountability, trustworthiness, careers, coping skills, goal setting,” said Jacob Owens, a paraprofessional who helps run the program.
“We talked about building a resume and cover letter, how to shake somebody’s hand professionally.”
Students have also gone on outings to the bowling alley and toured the local fire station. The boys were each given a shirt and tie and the girls each received a sweater.
“When we go out in public, we look professional,” Owens said.
“We have excellent expectations for them like no talking while someone else is talking, make eye contact.”
Hager told board members earlier in the year that program aims to support not just students, but their families.
“We’ve met with their family members, their grandparents, their uncles or cousins,” Hager said.
“We’ve had family dinners at Crossroads Community Church.”
Malabar staff hope to keep recruiting mentors that can continue supporting students as they grow up.
“If we have sixth graders, we’ve got to have adults follow them to the middle school. We have to have adults follow them to the high school. We cannot forget about this program,” Hager said.
“We’re not going to let it die, but we need more people. We need to overwhelm the the kids with with positivity, love and compassion.”
