Building Peace From School Grounds Up

Teachers attending Gloria Victor Gold’s seminar about violence prevention last week had to pass through the gates of North Hollywood High School, where a prominently displayed sign admonishes students to report weapons possession violations to school authorities.

The irony is not lost on Gold, 66, who, as executive director of the Halcyon Center for Child Studies Inc., has spent the last 15 years helping children of all ages learn to be “peace builders.”

“Society has changed a great deal since the ‘50s, a time when everything seemed to be all peaches and cream,” Victor Gold said. “Of course it wasn’t. But I’m trying through my work to reestablish some of those old values. They do work and they work cross-culturally.”

Stemming from her desire to help children grow up in a safe community, Victor Gold established the nonprofit Halcyon Center in 1982 in Van Nuys, which offers education and enrichment programs, as well as free counseling to children and families throughout the San Fernando Valley.

Victor Gold, whose husband is a Los Angeles Superior Court judge, ended a 15-year career as a paralegal to fulfill what she describes as a spiritual calling to help the members of society most at risk--young children.

“I called the Department of Family Services and learned that schools needed the most help,” Victor Gold said. “We started counseling services at a continuation school, and now we’re all over the Valley.”

The Halcyon effort closest to Victor Gold’s heart is the PeaceBuilders program, which has been established in 29 California schools. The program is based on four simple concepts: praising people, giving up put-downs, noticing when a child hurts someone, and seeking out wise adults. These concepts are reinforced through school activities, workbooks, plays, stories and community participation.

Victor Gold, a Studio City resident, trains the teachers and administrators who sign up for the free program. The Halcyon Center then sends counselors to each of the schools to coordinate the program and plan a peace-building activity for the week.

“The program has been fabulous,” said Melanie Deutsch,principal of Dixie Canyon Avenue Elementary in Sherman Oaks. “We have a common language now. We’ve taken to praising each other. It’s more positive.”

Deutsch and Victor Gold recalled a school meeting at which a parent said that her child’s PeaceBuilders activities had helped her get up the courage to reconcile with a neighbor whom she hadn’t spoken to for months.

“Gloria comes to the meetings and gets everyone pumped up,” Deutsch said. “She provided in-service for the staff and has been a great resource person here ever since.”

To foster community involvement, Victor Gold got McDonald’s and Subway franchises to donate free meals to the “PeaceBuilders of the Week” program, in which children are rewarded for their positive efforts at school and at home.

The Halcyon Center was a recipient of the Los Angeles Times Valley and Ventura County editions’ 1997 Community Partnership Awards, whose $5,000 grant has helped pay for the counseling services and enrichment programs the center provides.

“I had a hunger to find something where I could give and make a difference in society,” Victor Gold said. “Now 15 years later, I feel the program has been a success.”

Personal Best is a weekly profile of an ordinary person who does extraordinary things. Please send suggestions on prospective candidates to Personal Best, Los Angeles Times, 20000 Prairie St., Chatsworth 91311. Or fax them to (818) 772-3338. Or e-mail them to valley@latimes.comnameline