Friends School of Portland’s Parenting for Peace program developed as an outgrowth of our overall educational vision – to encourage inquiry, reflection and action and to strengthen our community of learners. Parenting for Peace represents FSP's commitment to engaging with our larger community, being of service as a learning community, and providing opportunities for inquiry and discernment for adults. Our topics are broadly about issues relevant to raising children in a peaceful, loving environment using the lens of Quaker values.  We generally follow our fall event with a larger gathering featuring a national speaker in the spring, sometimes also offering a workshop for educators. We have worked with coalition partners on these events to deepen our work in the community. We have thus far funded the project through private donations, grants, and sponsorship, and hope to continue building community support for the program.

Past Events

Who were the Quakers?
Who are they now? 
Why are Quaker values important now? 
The answers may surprise you.

Friends School of Portland hosted a pre-release screening of the film Quakers: The Quiet Revolutionaries. This event was presented in partnership with Portland Friends Meeting.

Quakers: The Quiet Revolutionaries tells the story of a spiritual movement that has played a remarkable role in American religious, social, and political life. Today’s Quakers share a spiritual DNA with their earliest forebears. They follow in the footsteps of dedicated Friends who battled authorities for abolition of slavery, civil rights, religious freedom, women’s suffrage and resistance to all war.  Join for an evening documentary and the conversation with the filmmakers to follow.  

JANET PAXTON GARDNER is committed to giving history a human face. In 1990, she founded The Gardner Group, Inc. to direct and produce documentaries. Film credits include a trilogy about the history and culture of Vietnam: Emmy-nominated A World Beneath the War (PBS/Discovery Channels International, 1997); Precious Cargo (produced in association with ITVS (PBS/ National Geographic Channels International, 2001); and The Last Ghost of War (narrated by Kevin Kline, distributed by PBS International, 2007). Two films explored the Cambodian genocide: Dancing Through Death: The Monkey, Magic & Madness (PBS/ STARTV, 1999); and Lost Child ~ Sayon’s Journey (presented to PBS stations by WNET Channel 13 for broadcast, 2015). The NEH-funded Mechanic to Millionaire: The Peter Cooper Storywas presented by ETV to American Public Television and broadcast on PBS stations in 2010. Her documentaries have received awards from the International Documentary Association, National Education Media Network, CINE, Casey Journalism Center and Society of Professional Journalists. Ms. Gardner began her career as a field producer, film editor and news writer for NBC News and WNBC-TV, WRC-TV (Washington, D.C.) and CBS News. As a print journalist, she was a feature writer for The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer and contributed to The New York Times, Philadelphia Inquirer and Boston Globe. Ms. Gardner is an alumna of New York University’s Graduate Institute of Film and Television (now Tisch School of the Arts) and Cooper Union.

RICHARD A. NURSE, Senior Producer, is the former Executive Director of the Crossroads Theatre Company and served as Assistant Vice President for Academic Affairs and Undergraduate Education for Rutgers University. He was also the first African American headmaster of a New England boarding school, the Stockbridge School in Lenox, Mass. Mr. Nurse has degrees from Brown University and Univ. of Rhode Island.

How can we speak openly and honestly in cross-racial conversations? What would such a conversation even look like? Shay Stewart-Bouley (aka Black Girl In Maine) and Debby Irving (author of Waking Up White) show us as they share racism’s impact on their lives and how cross-racial conversation has been instrumental in their own understanding of 21st century racial dynamics. Shay and Debby will explore the common fears and pitfalls of cross-racial conversation that keep people isolated in their own racial groups, at the expense of personal, professional, and societal growth. They’ll also help audience members understand how interpersonal social patterns hinder organizations from living up to their own ideals for diversity. No two conversations are alike as they step on stage with no agenda. Current events, in their own lives and in the larger world, inspire the organic conversation they engage in. Finally, Shay and Debby will offer suggestions to create racial justice habits that can move us from isolated events to sustainable connections.

Cosponsored by Portland Friends Meeting and Durham Friends Meeting.

Community support by USM's Women & Gender Studies.

Beyond Punishment; Restorative Practices in Schools
Friday, November 30 @ 2:30-4:00pm

Restorative justice is an alternative approach to restitution that emphasizes reflection and repair over punishment. Educators have adapted the model for use in schools (often referred to as "restorative practice") as an alternative to traditional punitive school discipline approaches. The restorative approach can also be a helpful model for parents as we navigate the challenges of supporting our own children.

 Silas Haggerty, filmmaker, will screen his twenty minute film These Walls. These Walls, made in conjunction with Maine Inside Out, juxtaposes the current punitive orientation of our criminal justice system with a restorative approach. After the film, we'll hold an informal panel and group discussion. Silas will be joined by Bear Shea and Scott Barksdale, two local educators (and FSP parents) who are implementing restorative practice in their school settings.

For information on Quakers and restorative justice, see this article.
For information on restorative practices in schools, see this article.