BUTTE — With a little help from Butte’s Chief Executive and a Tech student, some first graders at West Elementary School are getting a special lesson about peace on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
"I’m glad we do this every year and it’s something that, I think, even as adults we tend to forget sometimes in our daily lives," says Halli Weis, a current Tech student and former member of AmeriCorps.
For the last couple of years of her college career, Weis has participated in the "Read for Peace" event that takes place annually in Butte schools as a celebration of the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
"It was a very large part of our history and a very important part, and the world would be a lot different if none of that had happened," says Weis.
Kindness was the main message that most of the kids in the class took away from the short presentation, but for a few students, they also learned new things about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
As he sat quietly coloring a peace sign, first grader Iver St. John said he already knew a few things before today's presentation.
"I learned lots of new things about him. I learned that he brought peace to the world and I didn’t know that he would go to church," says St. John.
At least one student could recall Dr. King’s message from last year:
"Help people by not judging them and helping other people, telling other people not to judge them," says Beckam Bristol, a first grader at West Elementary.
"It’s very important to treat people the way you want to be treated and just be kind to people," says Weis.
