Kelly Kennington moves a sprinkler to water new sod on a large peace sign-shaped walkway through what will be a gardening area for children at the new Green Earth Montessori at Zion Lutheran Church.
GALVESTON — The largest peace sign in Galveston County can’t be found on the seawall or The Strand. Instead, this oversized symbol, some 70 feet in diameter, was created for a new holistic school.
The school, set to open next January, will be known as A Green Earth Montessori. The host congregation is Zion Lutheran Church, 6901 Yucca Drive.
Longtime church member Kelly Kennington is the bright spirit behind this particular leap of faith.
“The preschool is set up as a nonprofit, because I want the organization to benefit and grow,” she said. “I’d love to see the children grow up with the school.”
She said she’s hoping to add a new grade each year so its ministry can grow along with its students.
The Montessori approach, created more than a century ago by the first Italian female physician, isn’t unique to Zion. Almost a dozen Montessori day cares and preschools are listed in the area. But Kennington said she is hoping to share, with families of all faiths, an early childhood vision for a sustainable planet.
“We’re moving into ‘green’ with recycling and alternative energy,” she said. “My mission is to help build up the congregation of Zion Lutheran and also show the children of the school a more holistic approach to the world, the universe and God.”
If all goes well, the peace sign will serve as a highway to the imagination for kids driving toy cars, fire engines and trucks. And, of course, these replicas won’t consume fossil fuels. Instead, all the colorful miniature vehicles, which will be crisscrossing the face of the huge peace icon, will be pedal-powered — just like the 1950s originals. Kennington found a source for kid-propelled reproductions on the Internet and has a variety of them on order.
Green Earth is being formed with the expressed intent of teaching the next generation about caring for creation. Young ones will learn to grow some of their own food.
This isn’t Zion’s first school.
Back when pedal cars were new and the peace symbol hadn’t yet been imported from Great Britain, Zion had a successful preschool.
“My son went to Zion’s first school in 1964,” Nan Malloy, of Galveston, said. “Mrs. Sammy Ray was the head teacher, and we had quite a few students back then.”
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Rededication Service
Zion Lutheran Church, 6910 Yucca Drive, will have a rededication Sunday, beginning with an open house at 9:30 a.m. and a worship service at 10:30 a.m.
Bishop Michael Rinehart, of the Texas-Louisiana Gulf Coast Synod, and the Rev. Jerry Westerburr will conduct the service, celebrating the church’s recovery from Hurricane Ike.
“Zion feels extremely blessed to be reopening and looks forward to serving the community by actively searching for groups that could use our facilities,” church council President Anthony Grizzaffi said. “We are building a ministry that will make this church relevant seven days a week, serving God’s people.”
There will be a reception after the service. For details, call 409-744-2659.
