Planting a Peace Pole at Analy, Sebastopol, California, USA.

April 14, 2026

Analy celebrated the placement of a Peace Pole on campus, meant to represent the idea of global peace through local action.

On Monday, community members from around the area celebrated the installation of a Peace Pole in the Analy High School quad. The Peace Pole,  which stands about eight feet tall and is a prominent monument in the center of the school, is dedicated to preserving peace across the world. On it, the words “May Peace Prevail On Earth” are inscribed in eight languages, including Japanese and Ukrainian—the languages of Sebastopol’s sister cities: Takeo City, Japan, and Chyhyryn, Ukraine. The Peace Pole was a partnership between the Sebastopol Rotary, Veterans for Peace, and Analy’s Interact Club.

Interact Club President Keira McKnight, a senior at Analy, was one of the biggest supporters of the installation of this pole. Analy’s Interact Club is a service-oriented organization sponsored by the Sebastopol Rotary to foster leadership, international understanding, and community service. The Peace Pole is the latest project for the club, which regularly works with groups like Food for Thought and helps staff various Rotary events like the annual crab feed.

Analy teacher and Interact Club adviser John Grech spoke about what the Peace Pole symbolizes.

Grech mentioned Analy graduate Willard Libby, who developed radiocarbon dating — a process that allowed scientists to accurately date archeological artifacts. He won a Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work, and Grech explained how Libby’s work helped us to understand the past and humanity itself. “So may this Peace Pole remind everyone that we can all make a difference toward a better future no matter who we are,” Grech affirmed, thanking the Rotary clubs and Interact for their work on getting the pole installed. He finished, saying, “May today’s students’ energy toward peace, built on previous generations, be felt by generations to come.”

Sonoma County’s Veterans for Peace chapter president Fred Ptucha spoke about the history of the Peace Pole. He explained his experience in the Vietnam war — “a war based on lies,” he said—which is one of the main factors that inspired him to work for peace through the creation of Peace Poles, which has become a global movement. He said the idea of Peace Poles inscribed with the words “May Peace Prevail On Earth” originated in Japan in the 1970s but quickly spread across the world.

Nowadays, he explained, there are more than 200,000 Peace Poles in every country  across the world.

“It has become one of the most recognized and respected symbols of peace,” he said.

Here in Sonoma County, Ptucha has worked to get Peace Poles placed in schools, where the younger generation will see them every day. “We set a goal, a joint goal of Veterans for Peace and Rotary International, to dedicate a Peace Pole on the campus of every school in Sonoma County.”

Submitted by:Lawson Gaylord who is an Analy student and publisher of the West County World, Analy’s student newspaper.