Evaluation of Ark III

Ark has always been a work in progress. It has grow, changed, emerged and is always reaching a new level of commitment. The following statements were made following Ark III:

• Ark has credibility and support.
• The primary purpose of Ark is to empower youth to speak for peace, work for peace, experience peace in families, communities and the world.
• Ark affirms that young people are a major force in our contemporary world.
• Ark affirms that youth must be at the forefront of global, social, economic development, and peace and justice issues.
• Ark affirms that young people respond to the opportunity to learn peace making, diplomacy and conflict resolution skills. The need to engage them in ongoing training is essential. Ark intends to do this.
• Ark participants experienced an emerging language of universal peace. Language defines a people. Ark will work on developing a universal language of peace manual that will be central to all future Ark gatherings. A universal language of peace is multinational, multilingual, multicultural and will be understood by all involved
• Ark has unlimited possibilities as it pursues peacemaking, a central issue for our time in history.
• Ark will invite other countires and cultures to become involve, especially from areas in which the youth have experienced the violence of prejudice, socio-economic injustice and war. We are currently conversing with youth organizations in other countries.
• We will engage Jewish youth in Minneapolis and Israel as we continue to be diverse in culture, faith, language and socio-economic backgrounds.

Words of Gratitude

At the conclusion of each gathering, participants were asked to write a letter of appreciation to the donors who made the program financially possible. This letter from an adult participant affirms the purpose of Ark.

“Your generosity has rippled across the globe as the youth of ARK have shared and worked together. You may not realize the power and purpose this program has provided for the next generation of community leaders. I have watched thse young people grow in their thinking skills, dedications and compassion. I have worked with thousands of youth in the past thiry years, but this program develops the most remarkable transformations I have ever witnessed. They have learned to speak up for themselves, to communicate across cultures, and to care about oppressed people all around the world. I am convinced that each of the ARK participants will go on to do marvelous, powerful actions because of the leadership skills they learned in ARK. Certainly they all had the potential to be positive leaders, but ARK led them to realize their potential. I can’t wait to watch these young people do great things!”

-Sincerely, Jan Sacco, English as a Second Language, Anoka Schools