Pinwheels for Peace at TFS

The early morning breeze catches several pinwheels, turning on the front lawn of the lower and middle school campus.

A few eighth graders work together to calculate the distance between each pinwheel, making sure the design is aligned. They step back, study their work, make a few measurements, and decide they have it just right.

It’s a fitting culmination to a project that asks students to think about what peace means to them and how they can help create it.

Led by art teacher Paige Barlow, TFS students once again joined the international Pinwheels for Peace project, turning their ideas into colorful works of art. Their pinwheels reflect the people, places, and simple moments that bring them comfort, happiness, and a sense of belonging.

For Olivia Leon, that means family, memories, and home. Her pinwheel features chickens and flowers, reminders of her family and a visit to Puerto Rico, where she grew up.

“I love my family, and I love my country and my memories from our time there. Memories bring us peace,” she said.

Emory Turner chose sunshine and flowers.

“They make me happy. Flowers are happy. When we are happy, the people around us change their attitudes; happiness makes us want to do something good to make a difference,” she said.

Other students found peace in sunsets that encourage them to let go and enjoy a quiet moment, or in books that make the world slow down. Flags representing the home countries of boarding students, along with images of family, friends, song lyrics, and nature, fill the pinwheels with personal meaning. Together they create a shared expression of hope.

Barlow emphasized that the project is non-political and encourages students to consider peace in their own lives and communities.

Pinwheels for Peace is an art installation project initiated in 2005 by two art teachers, Ann Ayers and Ellen McMillan, of Coconut Creek, Florida, as a means for students to express their feelings about the world and their personal lives. In the first year, groups in over 1,325 locations worldwide spun pinwheels on September 21; approximately 500,000 pinwheels spun across the globe. In 2017, over 4.5 million pinwheels were spinning in more than 3,500 locations worldwide, including the United States, Europe, Asia, Australia, Canada, the Middle East, Africa, and South America.