On the afternoon of Friday, September 19, Chaminade Julienne’s Peace Ambassadors Student Group commemorated International Peace Day with a peace pole dedication ceremony.
This peace pole, sponsored by the Rotary Club of Dayton, features the inscription “May Peace Prevail on Earth” in eight different languages. It is an addition to a garden named after Sister Dorothy SNDdN ‘49, a Julienne High School graduate and an American-born Brazilian Catholic Sister who was killed fighting for the rights of farmers in Brazil in 2005. The garden and the peace pole are close to the center of the CJ campus, across from Emmanuel Church, within the Premier practice field fencing, just beyond the northeastern corner of the field.
Their 15-minute ceremony on a hot September afternoon was attended by CJ students, teachers, staff, and guests from the Rotary Club of Dayton, as well as CJ’s two sponsored communities: the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur and the Marianist community. The ceremony included prayers and brief talks before the unveiling of the peace pole and its blessing by Father Ted Cassidy.
This new campus landmark is part of a senior capstone project, a year-long graduation requirement at CJ. This project challenges seniors to address a justice issue through the lens of Catholic Social Teaching and apply their knowledge and values to real-world challenges in our community and around the world. This teaches students how to take action by creating real change in the community.
Latif Anwari ’26, Shahzad Anwari ’26, Michael Cartone ‘26, EJ Najem ’26, and Aiden Spatola ’26, who are the leaders of CJ’s Peace Ambassador student group, have been working to make the peace pole installation a reality since last May. Their peace movement at CJ started last year at the junior year service fair, when a teacher suggested that Latif and Shahzad complete their community service work at Dayton’s International Peace Museum.
“At first, I didn’t realize that there was a peace museum in Dayton and so close to campus,” said Latif Anwari. “After Shahzad and I started working there, we were asked if CJ has a peace ambassador club for our students. When we said no, they explained how to get one started.”
At the beginning of the spring semester, Latif and Shahzad Anwari founded CJ’s Peace Ambassador Club with a small group of students. With the help of Elise Chandler, the club moderator, they taught their fellow students how to be peacemakers.
“When we realized in April that the NATO Parliamentary Assembly was coming to Dayton, Latif, Michael, and I wanted to do something to promote peace and to pray for the world leaders who were coming,” Shahzad Anwari said. “We planned a Peace Prayer Circle on May 8.”
When CJ’s Peace Prayer Circle was in the news, the Rotary Club of Dayton reached out to the school.
“When the Rotary Club of Dayton learned about the CJ Peace Ambassadors prior to the NATO visit earlier this year, we reached out to see if we could support their efforts because young people committed to peacebuilding can change our world for the better with community support,” recalled Kelly Marie Lehman, Rotary Club of Dayton’s President-elect & District 6670 Peace Chair. “We are very proud of the team’s hard work on this initiative.”
After meeting with Lehman over the summer, the Peace Ambassadors decided to pursue installing a peace pole on the CJ campus to celebrate International Peace Day in late September. With high goals and a lot to accomplish, the Peace Ambassadors recruited Najem and Spatola to round out their capstone group. Their first decision, as Shahzad prepared the Rotary application, was which eight languages to choose for the peace pole.
“We chose French for St. Julie Billiart, the founder of the Sisters of Notre Dame, and Fr. Chaminade, the founder of the Marianists, both from France,” said Cartone at the ceremony. Portuguese for Sister Dorothy Stang, SNDdeN, with her connection to Brazil, and Algonquin as a tribute to the Shawnee tribes that lived here in the Miami Valley.”
Spatola continued, “Since the CJ student body is very diverse, we chose Spanish for CJ’s Hispanic student population, Mandarin for students from Asia, Swahili for those from Africa, Dari for students from Afghanistan, and English.”
Najem said, “The peace pole symbolizes the hope for global peace, as well as reminds us to work together towards harmony. It encourages us to come together and understand different cultures by spreading the message of peace.”
“I am proud to be part of this project,” said Shahzad Anwari. “This is a permanent symbol that CJ stands for peace.”
Molly Bardine, the Senior Capstone coordinator, said at the ceremony, “It is appropriate that at CJ, we have a peace pole. CJ is the first Catholic high school in Ohio to have a peace pole. There is so much to celebrate here. This is also a celebration of these five young men. These seniors are stepping up and promoting peace in our world, specifically our community, in tangible ways.”
This capstone team was not finished spreading peace after the peace pole ceremony. They went to the Rotary Club’s Summerfest at the Levitt Pavilion afterwards.
“At Summerfest, we had a booth to do peace crafts with the kids,” said Latif Anwari. “It was nice being at the Rotary Club event. We hope to work with them again. We are excited to continue to spread peace throughout our senior year.”
Chaminade Julienne’s Peace Ambassadors student group is a club that promotes peace through education, events, and community outreach.