Georgetown Rotary Club Expands Peace Pole Project in GISD

This story was originally published in the Spring of 2023. The story was updated in the Fall of 2025 to include the most recent Peace Pole additions.

The Rotary Club of Georgetown has partnered with GISD to bring Peace Poles, internationally recognized symbols meant to inspire peace among the human race, to campuses district-wide. The first GISD Peace Pole garden was installed at Cooper Elementary in December of 2022.

Each Peace Pole carries the message May Peace Prevail On Earth in different languages, while one side of the pole reads, “Let there be peace on earth! Let it begin with me!”

“In a world full of division, anger and fear, we should ask ourselves, ‘What can I do to be part of the solution instead of being part of the problem?’,” Jim Deuser, member of the Georgetown Rotary’s Racial Unity & Peacebuilding Committee said. “For me, the answer is summed up by the message on the peace poles.”

Deuser and other Georgetown community members have joined the movement by placing Peace Poles in their yards, along with other local churches and organizations.

"I am inspired by the work of our students and the Georgetown Rotary Club that has brought this piece of serenity to our campus," Mitchell Elementary principal Hollee Braun said. "I am hopeful that students will look to this symbol as a reminder to embrace empathy and work towards a more peaceful world, together."

Students on each campus worked to design their Peace Pole gardens and bring the project to life, with funding from the Georgetown Rotary Club. The gardens are intended to serve as a safe, quiet place on campus for reflection – either together or alone.

(Updated Sept. 19, 2025) As of 2025, GISD has Peace Poles at nine campuses: Carver Elementary, Cooper Elementary, Mitchell Elementary, Purl Elementary, Benold Middle School, Forbes Middle School, Tippit Middle School, Wagner Middle School and East View High School.

As the project continues to grow, more campuses are planning future installations.