Ken Buescher
Teacher, Author

Stadley Rough School
Danbury, CT USA

Maxwell Kofi Donkor
Drummer, Sculptor, Teacher

From Ghana / Lives in
Greenville, NY USA

Michael Palmer
Teacher, Musician

Pechersk School International
Kiev, Ukraine

Michael teaches fifth grade at Pechersk School International in Kiev, Ukraine. He is originally from Ontario, Canada. As a university student Michael volunteered with the “Tools for Peace” organization and traveled to Nicaragua in 1988 to raise awareness of unjust wars being conducted in Central America. After university Michael moved to Africa to work as a teacher at a mission school in rural Zimbabwe. He has also taught and lived in Istanbul, Turkey. He has been involved in many local charity events. He and some of his students volunteer at an orphanage in Kiev. Michael and his wife have a one year old son. Michael has been very actively involved in BoPH since 2006. His classes have done BoPH projects for three consecutive years linking his school with students in many other countries.

Joseph Giulietti
Teacher, Musician, Artist

American International School
Budapest, Hungary

Joseph Giulietti recently left his teaching position at the American International School of Budapest to move to Holland where he will be teaching.  Joe and his class at AISB have participated in the Bridge of Peace and Hope project since Joe first met John Farrell in 2006.  Joe has taught elementary school for nine fun-filled years and has visited over 20 countries on 4 continents.  He has volunteered in several countries especially with orphans, sick children, and abused children.  Joe spends his free time hiking, writing, reading, and traveling.  Joe and his wife, Sharon, also a teacher, are expecting their first child in September 2009.

Gael Lynch
Teacher, Author

Reed Intermediate School
Newtown, CT USA

Gael is a lifelong teacher, dedicated to promoting peace and harmony one child at a time in her own classroom. She currently teaches sixth grade language arts and world cultural studies, but has also taught much younger children in her tenure. The thread of writing and creative expression has been woven throughout the years of her teaching. Gael herself is a writer of middle grade and young adult fiction and is particularly interested in the lives and cultures of others as seen through the stories of the world’s people. Gael and her husband Tom have three grown children. Her proudest moment as a mom was bringing them back to Ireland for the first time where they stood on a hilltop in the very spot where her grandmother was born. Her hope is that the world’s children will become enlightened by the stories of the struggles and courage of the generations that have come before them in order to make peace the way of their future.
Gael and Tom are founding members of Bridges of Peace and Hope.

Read more from Gael at her blog http://www.gaellynch.blogspot.com/

Cheryl Terry
Teacher, Traveler, Activist

International School Brussels
Belgium

Cheryl Terry is from New Zealand but  she has lived in and traveled to many parts of the world including Oceania, Asia, South America, the Middle East, Europe and northern Africa. As well as teaching, Cheryl has worked as a tour leader for adventure travel companies. She begins a new teaching assignment in Bangkok, Thailand in 2009. She most recently taught fourth grade at the International School of Brussels in Belgium. Cheryl has been working with the Bridges of Peace and Hope project over the last two years. She believes that building ‘globally-minded’ students is essential in today’s world, and that it is especially important for international school students to realize the privileged position they hold in the global community and gain an awareness of those who are less fortunate than themselves. Her my classes have been involved in the Rwanda Project (involving the Imbabazi Orphanage), the Kapasseni Project in Mozambique, Heart to Heart Shanghai (raising money for a heart transplant for a disadvantaged child) and working with a migrant school in the outskirts of Shanghai, China. Cheryl believes that BoPH is a great way for students to be involved in projects that raise global awareness while also learning to express their ideas through writing, music and art. Prior to living and teaching in Belgium, Cheryl spent three years teaching 4th grade at an international school in Shanghai.

Meg McLoone
Parent, Teacher, Volunteer

Academy of International Studies
Danbury, CT USA

Meg has a BA degree in Business and French from Muhlenberg College. She has always had a passion for languages and distant lands.  While a junior in High School she was selected by the American Field Service to live with a family in Iceland.  Junior year in College was spent in Strasbourg, France where she also continued Russian studies. Meg has worked at the United Nations in New York. She is a full time volunteer in the school PTO. She is actively involved in the “Roots and Shoots” and “Heifer International Projects.”  She has been a private French teacher for 5 years, coached Odyssey of the Mind creative thinking teams for 4 years and works as a Child Associate at the Academy for International Studies in Danbury, CT. Recently she coordinated the installation and dedication of a peace pole at the school. "We are walking a bridge of peace" was inscribed on the pole. Meg and her husband have four children ranging in age from 7-14 years. She joined the board this year and has been the lead organizer for BoPH cultural events and concerts.

David John Hartnick
Teacher, Coach, Community Builder

DeRust Futura Academy
Grabouw, South Africa

Colleen Farrell
Student, Musician, Writer

International Relations
SUNY Geneseo

Colleen is the 20-year-old daughter of Ann Marie and John Farrell. She is currently an International Relations major at SUNY Geneseo, and works as a Student Area Coordinator for the human rights group Amnesty International. Her international experience includes volunteer work with children in Ecuador, as well as travels with her family to several European countries. Colleen hopes to study abroad in South America and Africa, and to further promote the idea of BoPH. Colleen is also a singer songwriter, and she is seeking to develop and improve as an artist, human being, and global citizen, and is very optimistic about the potential of BoPH to serve as a creative outlet and cultural connector for countless open-minded individuals worldwide.

Nancy Boyd
Principal

American School of Barcelona
Barcelona, Spain

Mary Jain Dayger and Darlene Humphrey

Edmeston, NY USA

Mary Jain Dayger and Darlene Humphrey are a team of retired school teachers that work with Hope River Music, Bridges of Peace and Hope, and the Arts in Education program at Edmeston Central School.

As project coordinators for Bridges of Peace and Hope the ladies do arm chair traveling to many parts of the world helping people communicate with each other. Since leaving the classroom the longtime friends have pursued hobbies in quiltmaking and bird watching, but they still enjoy working with students of all ages on a variety of volunteer projects. One project was the Bridges of Peace and Hope quilt . MJ and Darlene were a part of all of the stages of the quilt project including the final assembly.

Katie Farrell
Peace Corps Volunteer

Serving in Cameroon, Africa
From Hillsdale, NY USA

Katie is a graduate of Boston College and is currently working on her Peace Corps Masters Degree in International Public Health. She is in her second year of Peace Corps service in Cameroon, West Africa. As an undergraduate she spent a semester studying abroad at Rhodes College in Grahamstown, South Africa. When Katie completes her Masters Degree work she plans to attend medical school and become a doctor. The photo is with her friends and neighbors in Koza, Cameroon. Katie is John and Ann Marie’s daughter.

Raymond Flanigan
Photographer / Videographer

Bethel Photoworks
Bethel, CT USA

Mark Greenbergh
Attorney, Artist

Nassau, NY USA

Rich Copley
Web Designer

Milford, NY USA

Paul Costello
Accountant and Non-Profit Consultant

Carmel, NY