Each school is invited in October to choose a recipient by early December. We notify the students right away so they can include the award on their resume. The students are presented with the certificate at their schools’ end of year awards ceremony. In the 2023-2024 school year, the selected recipients  received $250 (the amount varies from year to  year depending on how many donations we receive), plus another $100 to be given to any nonprofit organization of his or her choice that operates in a spirit that is in keeping with the Peace Awards. Many students select school clubs where they can watch their work grow.

Schools are given the option of selecting a group instead of an individual student.

The recipients and their families and friends are invited to a reception in March.  After obtaining permission from their parents, we speak to each of the students to learn more about their activities so that we can introduce them at the reception and write news releases.

In addition to the checks, students also receive a book. Previous books have included Marshall Rosenberg’s Nonviolent Communication, Colman McCarthy’s I’d Rather Teach Peace, Ken Beller/Heather Chase’s Great Peacemakers: True Stories from Around the World, and Suraya Sadeed’s Forbidden Lessons from a Kabul Guesthouse. For the past few years, we have been infinitely grateful to Mark Andreas and his publisher for donating copies of his fascinating book about ordinary people finding their way out of violent situations without themselves resorting to violence  –  Sweet Fruit from a Bitter Tree.

Richard Rubenstein was our 2024 guest speaker (George Mason University). Our previous years’ speakers were Amelia Kegan (Friends Committee on National Legislation), Kirstin De Mello, Mark Andreas, Kendyl Crawford (Virginia Interfaith Power & Light), David Swanson (World BEYOND War), Janessa Gans Wilder (Euphrates Institute), Suraya Sadeed (Founder of Save the Afghan Children), Professor Al Fuertes (George Mason University’s New Century College), Vickie Shoap (Restorative Justice Specialist for Fairfax County Public Schools), Barbara Wien (peace activist), Chris Gilson (Peace Corps), Colman McCarthy (former Washington Post columnist), Mara Schoeny (assistant professor at the Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution at George Mason University), Michael Beer (Nonviolence International), and Bobbie Gottschalk (Seeds of Peace). Some of the older speeches can be found on our Facebook page; the more recent ones are on our YouTube channel.