quick note

Over our holiday break some members of our peace club made bread and donated it to the Burlington Food Shelf. It took about four hours and we made 29 loaves...but well worth the effort.

things I like/ resources

"The National Youth and Militarism Recruiter Abuse Hotline is now open at 1- 877-688-6881. After hearing many reports from young people and their families about abuses by military recruiters, we at AFSC are beginning to track these abuses as reported to our national hotline. Examples of recruiter abuse include making misleading or false statements; repeated contact after a request to refrain from contact; physical coercion; sexual solicitation; encouraging recruits to lie or falsify information; offering drugs or alcohol; attempting to intimidate or scare recruits or their parents; and refusal to accurately document recruits’ medical or legal situations.

Recruiter abuse has become such a problem that a congressional committee has suggested installing surveillance equipment in recruiting stations (which does little to protect young people solicited in schools). AFSC staff will track reported abuses to support our work advocating the demilitarization of youth and youth spaces. We will also support youth and families in seeking remedies to cases of abuse.

AFSC is responding to this urgent need. Staff people nationwide will be responding to calls in English and Spanish. To report an abuse call 1- 877-688-6881. To request stickers publicizing the hotline, contact Darlene Graminga at dgraminga@afsc.org."

Great Article and other resources from American Friends Service Committee

Speaking of resources I found some great books in Montpelier, definatlely worth checking out...




Here are some photos/ comics from the books (...free distribution, thanks!)

update

It's been a while since a new update, but that's because we've been doing stuff instead of writing about it. We went to our school board meeting and spoke during the community comments section. Apparently our speech is cycling around on MMCTV (Mount Mansfield Community Television) which is Adelphia Cable Channel 15 in Richmond, Jericho, Underhill and Jonesville. I'll see if I can somehow get a copy of that. We are on the agenda for January 24th to discuss recruiting policies in our schools district, definately more to come about the school board presentation.
Yesterday I got a letter back from Senator Sanders about our petition, NCLB and recruiting.




It's a start...and the petition is circulating at other schools who will send their copies in too.

Other Things we're doing:
-we will be at the Democracy Fair in Waitsfield, VT from 4-6pm on Jan.12. There will be great movies and music and tables, so please come!
-there's going to be a speaking tour for the "Out of our Schools, Out of Iraq" through VT highschools (I'll post schedule once we have one...)
-our Peace Club baked bread and donated 24 loaves to the Burlington Food shelf over the holiday break.
-One of our members just finished a movie on recruiting in schools, I'll see if we can get that up here soon.
-Continual counter-recruitment tabling at our school