Peace Certification™

Why does Peace Certification™ matter?
Peace Certification by the Mattie J.T. Stepanek Foundation makes a statement about your choices as an educator, a politician, a community leader, a family member, a school staff member, a healthcare or childcare provider, a member of the clergy, a business organization — as any person or group who wants to be an agent of lasting and good change for our world.

There are three components to Peace Certification™
They are rooted in Mattie’s “Three Choices for Peace” concept:
REFLECT: You choose to become a Peace Seeker. We share materials with you that support you in exploring and reflecting on Mattie’s message of Heartsongs, hope, peace, and choice.
RESPOND: You choose to become a Peace Maker. We support you in shaping your own Peace Plan (a Lesson, Activity, Attitude, and/or Action Plan) as a response to the message you are exploring.
REACH OUT: You choose to become a Peace Bringer. Together, we show others your commitment to peace through our Peace Certification page with your Lesson, Activity, Attitude, or Action Peace Plan.
Peace is not about a specific moment in time, but about our journey in life. Peace should be more than a project or a lesson plan or an event. Our Peace Certification program supports you in a peace journey — as a peace seeker, a peace maker, and a peace bringer.
My son, Mattie, believed that, “Peace is possible, if we choose to make peace something that matters for all people in all spaces of the world.” He also understood that while ending wars and bullying and violence is essential, peace begins within each of us when we can be “okay” with who and how we are as a person. Peace is nurtured through our homes and our schools and businesses, and it is shaped through our experiences in the places we work and play and pray.
Like Mattie, I believe and celebrate that peace is possible, and I recognize that peace involves education. It requires reflection, and commitment, and kindness, and patience. Most of all, peace involves choices — personal choices and choices made with and for others. For peace to become real and lasting, it needs to become a way of thinking, and speaking, and doing, and being. Peace is rooted in what we say and do, but grows through who we are as individuals, and as people living together in one world.
Peace Certification – part of our Pathways to Peace Program — offers individuals and groups and communities of people the opportunity to learn more about specific elements of Mattie’s message of hope and peace. It also provides you with materials and suggested activities that help you begin a peace journey that can last far beyond any class or meeting or dinner or event. And, we support you in celebrating peace through a personal connection to Mattie’s message, and through publicizing your endeavor and activities on our Foundation website.
An atmosphere of peace and kindness in classrooms and the community matters. Peace Certified People and Communities role model and educate children, teens, and adults in the important matter of personal choices that affect oneself, one’s neighbors, and one’s world.
Participating in our Peace Certification Program is a way to encourage peace as a deliberate and chosen way of thinking and speaking and acting. It can also help youth and adults understand how bullying interrupts peace. Bullying is not just a youth issue; it is a reality that affects people of all ages.
Peace is for all people. And, peace is possible, if we choose to learn more about attitudes and habits that nurture peace, and if we choose to tend to the realities that foster peace, such as balancing the basic needs of all people. I encourage you to make a commitment, participate in this program, and make peace your choice.
With hope and peace,
Jeni (aka “Mattie’s mom” & “Mama Peace”).
