Peacemaker Award established
L to R: Caiden Kippnick and Joan Gaughan at Manchester High School Awards Night 2023. Photo courtesy of Barry Allen.
by Sara Swanson
In early March of this year, Manchester resident Joan Gaughan met with Superintendent Dr. Bradley Bezeau. She had an idea for an award that up to that point didn’t exist, a peacemaker award. Her idea was for an award to be presented to a graduating senior who had shown leadership in quelling bullying or just plain mean behavior among their schoolmates. She stated, “I don’t want Manchester to be the next Oxford, Uvalde, Sandy Hook, etc. … but it easily could be.” Through her determination and the support of others in the community, the award is now a reality and has its first recipient!
At first, Gaughan wasn’t even sure it was possible. She felt strongly that if the award was to happen, it needed to be bigger than just the school — it needed the support of the community behind it as well. With the blessing of the superintendent, she sought support at the Manchester Village Council meeting. She also wanted to have money attached to the award. It was after her presentation to the Village Council that Village President Pat Valliencourt connected Gaughan with Barry Allen. Allen currently serves as treasurer for five different Manchester organizations, so, in his own words, he “knows where the money is.”
Looking at the financial status of the various organizations, Allen determined the Masons were the best option as possible sponsors for the Peacemaker Scholarship to be attached to the award. Allen explained that the Manchester Masonic Lodge is no stranger to supporting endeavors like this. They give over $10,000 in grants to individuals and organizations in and around Manchester every year in hopes of improving the community and giving people a chance to improve themselves. But for many years, they’ve done this quietly. Within the last few years they’ve begun striving to get their name out there and let the community know who they are.
Allen stated, “When I asked my brother Masons if they would want to take this on, the answer was instantaneous and unanimously a YES!” He continued, “We are extremely proud to support the Peacemaker Award and look forward to many years of honoring those individuals that make a difference in somebody’s life.”
Gaughan and Allen both had experiences being bullied growing up but discovered that in addition to the bullying, they had something else in common. When discussing the award, Allen asked Gaughan if she had grown up in Manchester. She hadn’t, having moved here 40 years ago, but her daughter had graduated from Manchester, and that led to asking where she had grown up. Gaughan explained, “I grew up in a tiny town in Minnesota called Hartland. It has a population of 230 and is about 13 miles from the nearest ‘big’ town, Albert Lea, which is also the county seat … and, coincidentally, where Barry grew up! That we should both end up in Manchester, Michigan, is therefore quite a coincidence. Also, we were both bullied when we were young. To add to the coincidences, between Hartland and Albert Lea is a bump in the road called … Manchester, Minnesota!”
With the award approved and funding secured, the next step was determining a recipient. Gaughan recalled that upon hearing about the award, Manchester Jr/Sr High School principal Wendy Bridges knew immediately who should receive it. In the presentation speech at Awards Night, Gaughan stated, “When our Village Council President, Pat Valliencourt, first heard of this award, she used the word ‘courage’ to describe the quality a student would need in order to deserve it. When Wendy Bridges heard of the award, she spoke the name Caiden Kippnick. The two go together … Caiden and courage.”
In addition to serving as senior class president, Caiden served on the Washtenaw County Youth Commission. Caiden, along with a couple of other students from the commission, prepared and executed a presentation to 11th and 12th graders on positive conflict resolution. High School guidance counselor Maddy Stephens stated, “Caiden Kippnick won the Peacemaker Award because he is always showing up for the students around him. He is trying to make Manchester a better place for all students. He has been an amazing example of kindness in the Manchester Community Schools.”
In addition to a certificate and a check for $500, Caiden received the Peacemaker Medal and Manchester High School received a Peacemaker Plaque that will be kept in the display cabinet at the high school. Under Caiden’s name is space for the names of future Peacemaker Award recipients.
In Gaughan’s speech at Awards Night, she stated, “The invisible wounds of bullying are just as destructive as those carved by any knife and often leave scars that last a lifetime. I know. Worse, to our sorrow and, I think, to our shame, they can be deadly. … Caiden has tried to ensure that no one in this school will have to endure the cruelty of name-calling or bear a negative label because of their skin color or religious or sexual orientation or because of the way they walk or talk or dress or think or simply because putting someone down makes someone else with a clouded mind and a small heart feel superior. … That task required humility, patience, and, as Mrs. Vailliencourt observed, above all, it took courage. It takes courage to see someone else’s pain, someone else’s vulnerability, someone else’s loneliness — and not only reach out a helping hand oneself but, as Caiden has done, invite others to do the same. … It takes courage to make peace. And work not of the wimp nor the faint of heart nor the scatterbrain. It has been the work of Caiden Kippnick.”
Caiden has set the bar high for all future Peacemaker Award recipients!
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