Hughes Peer Mediation Program

LANGSTON HUGHES PEER MEDIATION PROGRAM 

HISTORY

The Langston Hughes Peer Mediation Program began in the early 1990s when Hughes principal Ed Thacker asked Marsha Blakeway, with Children’s Creative Response to Conflict, to train the school’s counselors in peer mediation skills.  A few years later, Mr. Thacker hired Freya de Cola and Karen Adkins-Hastings—both with backgrounds in conflict resolution—to work as parent liaisons at Hughes and help strengthen the training program.  Recognizing the program’s significance and the need for someone to coordinate it, Mr. Thacker then decided to create a position that would be exclusively dedicated to the program’s oversight.  He hired Ms. Adkins-Hastings as the school’s first peer mediation coordinator.  Together with the support of the school’s administrators, members of the faculty, and counselors including Adele Jones and Joanne Fowler, Ms. Adkins-Hastings designed the program in such a way that it quickly became integral to resolving student conflicts at Hughes. Subsequent coordinators over the years have contributed their own vision, enthusiasm, commitment, and fresh ideas to help make the program as responsive as possible to student and school needs.  These coordinators included:  Valerie Clements, Helene Lepkowski, Faye Bazemore, and Melinda Rivas, who has been working as peer mediation coordinator for 4 years. 

As many as 65 seventh and eighth grade peer mediators a year have been trained to help their classmates resolve conflicts, and thousands of Hughes students over the years have benefited from their dedication and expertise.  Hughes’ peer mediators were among the first group of middle school students to lead and facilitate workshops at the regional peer mediation conference held annually at George Mason University. 

Among the memorable moments in the history of Hughes’ Peer Mediation Program was the attendance of peer mediators and program sponsors at a White House ceremony in the Rose Garden where they witnessed President Bill Clinton’s signing his Education Bill.  Another occasion involved Education Secretary Richard Riley and Senator Chuck Robb’s visit to Hughes to commend the participants in the peer mediation and peer helping programs.  The program’s successes were also shared outside the United States when the Voice of America broadcast a piece about the mediators’ important service to 40 countries around the world.

Thanks to Principal Thacker’s original farsighted vision and the school’s ongoing commitment to using peer mediation as a significant way to resolve student conflicts, Hughes’ program remains vital and strong.  Currently 40 seventh and eighth grade peer mediators serve in the program.