The award recognized Taft’s dedication to providing a high quality, self- sustaining peer mediation program, through which students resolve their own conflicts, without the intervention of school staff, by students trained as peer mediators.

Taft will be recognized for their accomplishment at the Bar Foundation’s annual Peacemaker Gala on Saturday at Sunset Station.

Located in the Northside Independent School District, Taft began its peer mediation program in the fall of 2000. Dedicated to the principles of peace and conflict resolution, the peer mediators have been very successful in preventing student disagreements from escalating into violence.

This success has been noted by school administrators who have commented on the tremendous impact peer mediation has had in creating a peaceful school climate. Thanks to the introduction of the peer mediation program, “Students talk about their disagreements with trained student mediators, creating a sense of trust and compatibility among the student body.”

As one school administrator remarked, “Their mediations are almost always successful, and they are far more successful than we as administrators are with mediating between students.”

Taft peer mediators also serve as role models through their involvement in the Peer Assisted Leadership Program (PALS). These peer mediator/PALS give back to the community by acting as mentors and Big Brothers and Big Sisters to at-risk children in various elementary schools within the Northside Independent School District.

They teach the younger students the principles of conflict resolution, which has helped lead to a decrease in discipline issues and an increase in grade point levels in participating schools. The mediators also assist with the Taft High School Freshman Fish Camp, a summer orientation program for freshman, by not only acting as buddies to the incoming ninth grade students, but also by providing presentations to the students and their parents about the many issues freshman face upon entering high school.

Taft is not the only school offering such programs to their students. For over eight years, the Bexar County Dispute Resolution Center has been transforming local schools by creating a culture of peaceful dispute resolution through the “Amigos in Mediation” Peer Mediation Program. The AIM program provides peer mediation/conflict resolution training and consultation services to all interested elementary, middle and high schools located within Bexar County.

All services are provided at no cost to local schools. Schools wishing to participate in the AIM program are encourages to select students to be trained as mediators from a broad, cross-section of the student population in order to ensure representation across gender, ethnic and economic sectors of the school population spectrum. With the assistance of trained student peer mediators who facilitate the mediation process, students are able to resolve their interpersonal conflicts without the intervention of school staff.

Of the students using mediation to resolve their disputes, 88 percent stated that mediation prevented them from engaging in inappropriate action and 94 percent of those same students stated they would use mediation again to resolve future disputes. Of the schools reporting, 79 percent stated that having a peer mediation program reduced the number of disciplinary incidents and the amount of time staff spent on disciplinary actions.

First given in 1995, the San Antonio Bar Foundation’s Peacemaker Award recognizes the efforts of those in our community who are committed to promoting non-violent means of dispute resolution.