Winchester’s 2nd Peace Pole at John Kerr Elementary, Winchester, Virginia, USA
April 23, 2025
WINCHESTER — All they are saying at John Kerr Elementary School is, “Give peace a chance.”
Students, school administrators and Rotary Club of Winchester representatives gathered Wednesday morning to dedicate a Rotary peace pole, which John Kerr Principal Kim Pryor called “a simple yet profound symbol” that reminds people of how good life would be if everyone set aside their differences.
The peace pole was provided by the Rotary Club of Winchester and is now a permanent fixture next to the front entrance of the school at 427 Meadow Branch Ave. Maggie McCampbell Lien, public information officer for Winchester Public Schools, said it is Rotary’s second Peace Pole to be placed at a city school, with the other located at Handley High School.
Jeff Taylor/The Winchester Star
Bret Hrbek, district governor for Rotary District 7570, which includes Winchester, said peace poles display a simple message — “May Peace Prevail On Earth” — written in English and several other languages. The wording was authored by Masahisa Goi of Japan after the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki that ended World War II, and are now featured on more than 250,000 Peace Poles in every country in the world.
Many of the Peace Poles are accompanied by a bench where people can rest and reflect. John Kerr’s bench has been ordered and will be manufactured at no charge by Trex Co. Inc. of Winchester using recycled plastic.
Pryor said the peace pole was brought to John Kerr courtesy of her school’s EarlyAct Club, which is the junior version of high school-level Interact Clubs. About 60 fourth graders are members of John Kerr’s EarlyAct Club, she said, and they receive guidance from school staff plus Handley Interact Club liaisons Gracie Flowers and Eliana Filomena, both of whom attended Wednesday morning’s ceremony.
John Lamanna, president of the Winchester Rotary Club, said Rotary sponsors Interact and EarlyAct clubs nationwide as a way to teach young people the value of public service. This is the first year for EarlyAct in Winchester, he said, and clubs have been created at both John Kerr and Quarles elementary schools.
There are plans to bring two more peace poles to Winchester in the near future. Placements are in the works for Quarles Elementary and the Winchester Rescue Mission, but no dates have been announced for the installations.