Traprock Center for Peace and Justice
Wollman Hill, Deerfield, MA
I am always on the lookout for places that take on various activities relating to peace and children, especially young children. You probably know of some yourself. We should all share this information.
Lately I am learning about Traprock even though I have known about it for many years. It was founded in 1978, by a friend of mine, Beverley Woodward and a well known theologian, Harvey Cox. At that time it was called Traprock Peace Center and eventually headed by a lifelong friend, Randy Kehler. Traprock’s home and building for Traprock is Woolman Hill, a Quaker Retreat Center in the hills near the mighty Connecticut River in Western Massachusetts. It originally focused on peace activities including the Nuclear Freeze campaign, nonviolence, and opposition to war, which there have been so many since the founding.
Traprock eventually changed its name and continues to this day with activities that involve communities centering on peace and justice. Here are some that involve children:
Children’s Book Collaborative
Since 2016 the Traprock Center for Peace and Justice has partnered with local libraries, including those in Greenfield, Orange and Montague, as well as a school in Sierra Leone and most recently with the family literacy program, Love2Grow, of the Montague Catholic Social Ministries.
Journey Camp for Peace and Justice
For 30 summers Traprock has been running a camp for children ages 6 – 10. Our friend Sarah Pirtle opens in a new tab, who helps us with the P.E.A.C.E. newsletter’s A Song to Share section, has been organizing a staff of teens in leadership roles and teaching peace building skills and creating a village in the woods.
Young Peacemakers
The Peacemakers Awards are given out locally in Franklin County by Traprock and the FC Interfaith Council recognize youth involved in projects that promote justice and peace in their communities and in the wider world. The community nominates children who do this work.
Twice as Smart
Traprock is partnered with Twice as Smart, an educational Justice program for ages 7 to 14 years in Greenfield Public Schools which emphasizes art, music and creativity in the traditional learning environment.
All these activities involve children of different ages in peace and justice issues. The center also has a project to plant 10,000 trees in Vietnam to deal with the results of wars from the past. All these activities come out of one little center in the hills of Massachusetts. It is exciting to hear about opportunities for children in a rural area to get involved in peace and justice issues.
For more information, visit traprock.org opens in a new tab.
Craig Simpson
Dorchester, MA
