The board of the MJ Berner Foundation celebrated a big step forward in their goals for peace education in the Northwoods with the grand opening of the Many Ways of Peace center in Eagle River last week. The group chose September 21st for their grand opening to coincide with the UN’s International Day of Peace and Global Ceasefire. 

Foundation founder Mary Jo Berner finds that peace is sometimes a difficult concept for people to “wrap their arms around.” She hopes the center and its activities will help give people a concrete understanding of peace and help them to implement it in their lives.

“If we can have some kind of a physical presence here, people will think about peace, and not just peace through war, but peace through many means, whether it’s the edible garden project, whether it’s taking care of animals, the environment, there are so many ways,” said Berner. “It all boils down to how we treat one another and our planet.”

The new location on Main Street already felt lived-in, its walls decorated with artwork and collages from area schools, its book shelves stocked. The well-appointed kitchen was filled with home-baked food for the event, and the reception desk was ready with tea and juice. In a tent outside sat yesterday’s project-in-progress: a colorful sand mandala as a cross-cultural symbol of wholeness and interconnectedness. 

The grand opening celebration began that Sunday afternoon with a Roots & Shoots Day of Peace. Roots & Shoots is a global youth organization founded by Jane Goodall that focuses on a better world for animals, the environment and human communities. That was followed by drumming led by Lisa Smetana, a teacher at Three Lakes High School, and the construction of a giant peace dove to be used in parades and events.

Monday’s events included a screening of the film “The Day After Peace,” which chronicles one man’s struggle to establish a day of peace and global ceasefire (see film here), and concluded with a ribbon cutting ceremony. 

Seeds of Peace

The MJ Berner Foundation was founded in 2005. Originally from Antigo, Berner was the owner of Eagle River radio stations WERL and WRJO. After selling the stations, Berner decided to establish a foundation for the advancement of peace and justice. “My inspiration was the journalist, Colman McCarthy. When asked to teach writing at the university he responded, ‘I’d rather teach peace.’ He began a career teaching peace studies. When I heard him speak at Nicolet College in 2003, I decided I’d rather teach peace too,” said Berner. 

Although its current incarnation is still in its infancy, Many Ways of Peace has history in Eagle River. Its name comes from the first Wisconsin peace festival held in Eagle River in 1987. Dorelle DeGoes-Pfister, a board member in the current organization, was one of the organizers of the original event.

“Many great peace advocates came from across the nation and beyond to participate in the festival. By the people of Eagle River it went pretty much unnoticed. But dreams do not go away. It’s so exciting for me that Many Ways of Peace lives again,” said DeGoes-Pfister. 

Teaching Peace

Many Ways of Peace is already having concrete effects on the local community and beyond. Perhaps the greatest impact can be seen in local schools, where peace studies have become part of the curriculum. Northland Pines teacher Deb Foster brought her peace studies class on a field trip to the grand opening celebration. The peace studies class is in its third year as a formal class, with its first year having been taught as an independent study.

According to Foster, board members Mary Jo Berner and Helen Welch provided the impetus and curricular support for offering a class at the high school. “We had thought about it but never had the motivation to do anything about it before,” she said. 

The popularity of the class has  exceeded expectations. “It’s an elective class for juniors and seniors. But even so, by the time seniors are graduating, about 80 percent of students have taken the class,” said Foster.

She says the class’s popularity may be due to the different perspectives peace studies offers. “I think that kids really enjoy learning and this gives them an opportunity to hear opinions and think about things in a completely different way - a way they just don’t hear in their traditional history classes.”

Foster says the impact the class has on students continues after graduation. “As kids have graduated and come back to the community, and even as these kids go through the class they say, ‘This really helped me find my voice. It made me examine what I believe. I’m challenged by what other people believe, and I have to express that in a manner that is respectful of other people’s ideas and opinions. It’s real education. I think sometimes we’re so worried about teaching dates and names that we forget to teach kids how to think. This really has kids thinking,” she said.

Interest in Northland Pines’ successful peace studies class is catching on statewide. “I myself have gone to different communities to talk about our class,” said Foster. “This weekend I’m going to Waupaca, which will be the fourth community I’ve visited.”

According to Foster, Many Ways for Peace has already accomplished a great deal. “The outreach that they are doing in the community is amazing,” she said. “They have the garden project, and have done a speaker series, and have gone to other communities. And now with this wonderful facility we can explore these ideas as a community.”

Dedicated to peace

At the conclusion of the film and subsequent discussion, students brought out the peace dove and board members cut the ribbon, officially dedicating Many Ways of Peace a “Zone of Peace.”

Berner explained, “If enough people adopt a zone of peace in their personal life, in their home, in their community, this movement will spread out. I would just love nothing more than for the Eagle River area to become a zone of peace. That is what we attempt to model here: to be harmonious, inclusive, and to promote human dignity.”

Helen Welch added that seeing all the problems in the world, she had always hoped to find a way to make it a better place for the next generations. “But it’s such an overwhelming problem, where does a person begin?” she wondered. “I looked around this community and I saw people responsibly and lovingly caring for their families, helping out their neighbors in need, providing food for the food pantries, mailing packages to service people overseas, and volunteering for many different organizations in town. And I realized you don’t have to be a Mother Teresa or a Gandhi to make a difference. Truly there are many ways of peace.”

Visitors are invited to stop by the center, whether to borrow a book from the lending library or simply to exchange ideas. The group plans to have a website online soon, to advertise upcoming events, activities, and film screenings.