PeaceJam, Penguin, and Pearson Foundation Announce Global Call to Action Challenge

PEACEJAM, PENGUIN AND PEARSON FOUNDATION ANNOUNCE GLOBAL CALL TO ACTION CHALLENGE


Young people everywhere to document projects that change the world and earn the chance to work directly with a Nobel Laureate at their school

Register your service project at http://www.globalcalltoaction.org/

Young people today want to take action to change the world. At the PeaceJam Global Conference at Loyola Marymount University on September 11-13, 2008, PeaceJam, Penguin Young Readers Group, and the Pearson Foundation will announce a new initiative, the PeaceJam Global Call to Action Challenge, that gives young activists everywhere the chance to work directly with a Nobel Laureate in their own school.
The Global Call to Action Challenge is an extension of the newly-published Penguin Young Readers book, “PEACEJAM: A Billion Simple Acts of Peace,” by Dawn Gifford Engle and Ivan Suvanjieff (Puffin, September 2008, $16.99, Paperback, Non-fiction, ISBN: 9780142412343, 208 pages, ages 12 and up). Through PeaceJam’s Global Call to Action, Nobel Laureates including the Dalai Lama, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and Rigoberta Menchu Tum have asked young people throughout the world to commit themselves to creating 1 billion projects to serve communities in the next decade.

The Global Call to Action Challenge encourages young people to document these projects in digital film and in writing. The Challenge winners, to be announced in April 2009, will get the opportunity to have a Nobel Laureate visit their school during the spring of 2009. More information about entry details and the Challenge can be found in “PEACEJAM: A Billion Simple Acts of Peace” and online at www.globalcalltoaction.org and www.peacejam.org

As part of the Challenge, PeaceJam and Penguin are joining the Digital Arts Alliance, the consortium of organizations that brings digital arts experiences directly to over 15,000 young people and teachers each year. Entrants to the Challenge may also earn the chance to work directly with the Digital Arts Alliance to create public service announcements, which will be broadcast on television and the Internet. In addition, Global Call to Action projects will be profiled in future books and classroom curriculum created by Penguin and the Pearson Foundation.


“PeaceJam has seen first-hand the power and drive of young people to act in the interest of the world we all share,” said Dawn Engle, PeaceJam co-founder. “The Global Call to Action Challenge is a natural extension of PeaceJam’s commitment to action and to bringing young people together with the wisdom and experience of Nobel Laureates. This Challenge provides that opportunity and enhances it with the support of Penguin, the Pearson Foundation, and the Digital Arts Alliance.”

Eileen Kreit, President and Publisher of Puffin Books added, “PeaceJam is about what you can do as a young person to address problems you witness in the world. Penguin is proud to extend PeaceJam’s reach to young people through “PEACEJAM: A Billion Simple Acts of Peace.” The Global Call to Action Challenge encourages young people to act by describing their projects and expressing themselves in digital media, and the publication of this book will bring youth and Nobel Laureates together to change the world for the better.”

“By joining the Digital Arts Alliance, PeaceJam makes it possible for the young leaders it serves to amplify their own voices, — at conferences, through curriculum, and in books with a leading publisher like Penguin — as well as in the digital media,” said Mark Nieker, president of the Pearson Foundation.