CHAMPAIGN – The first notes rang out at 6 p.m. Monday Central time at Montessori schools in New Zealand.

By 11 a.m. Tuesday, "Light a Candle for Peace" was being sung by children at the Montessori Habitat School in Champaign, more than halfway around the globe.

Montessori schools joined together Tuesday to "Sing peace around the world" as a tribute to the United Nations' International Day of Peace, and to the memory of Maria Montessori and other peace activists.

The singing started in New Zealand, then was picked up by school after school across time zones – 80,000 children in 35 countries – so that it would circle the globe in 24 hours.

In Champaign about 80 children and some parents took part, singing in a circle outside from 11 to 11:08 a.m.

Director Julie Savignac said the first "Sing Around the World" celebration was held in 2009, and the Habitat school decided to join in this year.

"There's definitely a curriculum of peace within Montessori schools. It all kind of works together. This was something we could participate in that was a worldwide event, that we could have 3-year-olds as well as 14-year-olds participate in," she said.

Written by a Montessori teacher, the song's chorus encourages children to "sing peace around the world."

"I loved it. They do some very neat things here. It's very politically and environmentally and socially minded," said Andrea Aguiar, who came by to watch her 3-year-old and 6-year-old daughters sing.

The event also ties in with the Montessori Model United Nations Program, which the Habitat school has participated in for five years. Patterned after the Model U.N. program for high school and college students, the Montessori version allows children ages 9 to 15 to learn about the U.N. and its role as the world's largest peacekeeping and humanitarian organization.

Through role-playing, each student becomes a delegate of an individual nation and writes and debates issues affecting their own country and the rest of the world. They can practice leadership skills in a real-life global situation, and hone their research, writing, communications, problem-solving and conflict-resolution skills. The hope is that they will also learn to understand the needs of people in other countries and the importance of accepting differences, according to the website.

"It's a lot of fun," said fifth-grader Brian Zilles, who will attend for the second time next April. "They're actually problems the world's facing today, they're not fake ones."

Zilles last year was a delegate on the U.N. Security Council from Burkina Faso, and dealt with resolutions on Israel-Palestine and North Korea. He voted against the Korea resolution because he felt sanctions should have been tougher, but it passed anyway.

This year he'll be part of the Russian Federation, which he's looking forward to because it has veto power. "Being on the Security Council is a lot of fun if you're a permanent member," he said.

Mike Grady will accompany his three children on the trip next spring. Two of them have gone before, and he said they learned a great deal from all the background preparation. They also enjoyed working with children from all over the world, learning about the U.N., and sightseeing in New York, especially Ellis Island, he said.

The program started out five years ago with 400 delegates from the United States, Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and South America, Savignac said. The year organizers are anticipating 1,000 from around the world, including 42 from China, she said.

Her middle-school students will "serve" on the International Court of Justice, and elementary students will deal with issues from malnutrition and refugees to drilling rights and sustainable development.

"It has been an incredible opportunity for the children," Savignac said.

For more information:

http://singpeacearoundtheworld.blogspot.com/

http://www.montessori-mun.org/the-montessori-program.html