Arts Festival : Students Sing Out for Peace

A song was on Nicole Bandel’s lips Saturday. But peace was on her mind.

“People from different schools are coming together to sing and have fun,” said the Encino seventh-grader. “Adults can do it, too. Libya, Iran--they all ought to get together and sign a peace treaty.”

Twelve-year-old Nicole was one of 1,000 junior high school students from 14 San Fernando Valley schools who participated in a five-hour arts festival designed to promote world peace.

The series of performances began with children from Fulton Junior High in Van Nuys singing “Fanfare for Peace” and ended with about 500 youngsters singing “Let There be Peace on Earth.”

In between, there were dramatic readings, dances, a display of student artwork and band music ranging from show tunes to Beethoven.

Los Angeles Unified School District officials said junior high schools in Region E, south of Roscoe Boulevard, were asked to contribute artwork and performances appropriate to the United Nations’ International Year of Peace.

Drama students from Millikan Junior High in Sherman Oaks portrayed the peace marchers who have reached Utah in their current Los Angeles-to-Washington walk for disarmament.

“Governments are taking our lives in their hands. I don’t think it’s fair,” said eighth-grader Terri Maddison, who painted hearts and the word “peace” on her face for the skit “Why Can’t We Live in Peace?”

Despite their fidgety, free-wheeling appearance, junior high students are quick to feel world tensions, said Jacqueline Broussard, a school district music adviser who organized Saturday’s festival.

‘They Know We’re Not at Peace’

“With all they’re hearing about happening in Central America and Europe and with terrorism, they know we’re not at peace,” Broussard said.

“Kids are people. They react as any adult would react to a crisis. They don’t just think of childish things.”

Jill Jackson Miller, who wrote the festival’s “Let There be Peace on Earth” closing anthem 30 years ago, said the Soviet nuclear reactor disaster gives the song fresh meaning.

“This horror that just happened shows that clouds and rain and sunshine are for everyone,” she said. “We’re all neighbors. We all share the same planet.”

Miller counseled children at Saturday’s festival to “learn to live the example” of peace by starting with something as simple as “being fair on the playground.”

The festival’s music--and its tone--was applauded by several hundred parents, who moved between three stages at the Center for Enriched Studies magnet school in Sherman Oaks.

“I think the theme is very appropriate for this day and age,” said Judy Williams, a parent, of Canoga Park. “It’s a welcome sight to see something positive like this in light of what’s happening in the world.”