Learning Peace: A Big School with a Big Heart chronicles a year at Annapolis East Elementary. A school where over 700 kids play, study, meet and--like kids everywhere--sometimes fight. But thanks to an anti-violence program introduced in 1996 by principal Heather Harris, bullying and fighting have become a rarity. Peace education has been fully integrated into the school curriculum. Meanwhile, a peer mediation program helps students settle disputes, good behaviour is rewarded at monthly assemblies, and a full-time counsellor devotes his days (lunch hours and breaks included) to helping kids address anger. Over the course of a year, it becomes clear that peace is hard work--but well worth the effort.