Hello again, everyone.
Here are some action steps that summitters developed on Thursday, our last day together. To all of you who created an action step, we hope you are continuing to be conscious of it. To those of you who weren't around for this or any other part of the summit, feel free to be inspired by and awestruck at the earth-changing ideas of this year's POWER Summit participants!

POWER Summit 2008 Action Steps

· Plant trees

· Start a chapter of the Student Peace Alliance and make a commitment to diversity in the group

· Get my school to start composting waste

· Raise money to help my school get solar panels

· Communicate non-violently with people in conflict situations

· Use ‘I statements’ to help me to think before I talk, to not just react to situations

· Commit to walk and bike more

· Take time every day to reflect, to find my own peace: write poetry, journal, create art

· Create a memorial for the child victims of the Iraqi war

· Seek out and talk more with war veterans, offer my support for what is a hard experience

· Get involved in this election: voter registration, working for a campaign

· Become more aware of current affairs

· Actively share compassion and non-judgment, about myself and others

· Start a ‘water project’ at our school: eliminate bottled water, sell Nalgene bottles

· Start a group at my school that mirrors the bridge protesters: meet once a week and plan/do an action for the earth, for peace, for clean water

· Attend a trip to the School of the Americas

· Carpool to donate blood

· Start a movie night and show movies with meaning

· Start a weekly, planned demonstration in our town, like the St. Paul bridge protest

· Develop art workshops that create community and deal with the issues of other teens

We had an awesome week learning from our keynote speaker, Dot Maver, our other presenters from groups like Wellstone Action, Friends for a Nonviolent World, and Youth Venture, and our community panel of local peace makers. We were challenged, motivated, and encouraged by the people we met, who ranged from high schoolers to recent college graduates and beyond. We ate delicious organic, local, and sustainably raised food all week long and enjoyed just hanging out with a large group of people all thinking about Peace: The New Energy. Keep checking back here and on the Facebook group page for more updates and info about getting ready for next year!

Peace,
Esther