Austin ISD students will be promoting Peace through Pie this week with socials at schools throughout the district.

Peace Through Pie is a local, grassroots movement that began with Luanne Stovall. In 2009, the first pie social honoring Martin Luther King Jr. was celebrated at the Sweet Home Missionary Baptist Church in Clarksville. Since then, local organizations have held their own pie socials to promote peace. The first high school event took place at William B. Travis High School in January 2012 with culinary arts students.

Now, more than 5,000 participate in the annual festivities.

AISD Peace Through Pie events include:

Mathews Elementary Peace Through Pie Social
Mathews Elementary School, 906 W. Lynn St.
Friday, Jan. 16, 7:30–8:15 a.m.; pizza pie lunch in the cafeteria

At the morning assembly, Mathews Elementary students will take part in their No Place For Hate program celebrating Dr. Kingʼs legacy of community peace-making with music and by taking the Pie-o-neer Pledge. Guest speakers include Founder of Peace Through Pie Luanne Stovall and Sweet Home Missionary Baptist Church Pastor Steve Manning. Students continue celebrating by sharing pizza pie in the cafeteria.

Fourth Annual Travis Peace Through Pie Social
William B. Travis High School cafeteria, 1211 E. Oltorf Blvd.
Friday, Jan. 16, 9:30 a.m.–3:15 p.m.

Chef Jason Osborneʼs culinary arts students and Leni Gillespieʼs Lifetime Nutrition and Wellness students are preparing all types of pie to promote peace. Students will also take part in a pie-eating contest.

Sanchez Elementary Peace Through Pie Social
Sanchez Elementary School, 73 San Marcos St.
Friday, Jan. 16

Student pie-o-neers at Sanchez Elementary will celebrate their second MLK Peace Through Pie Social with classrooms and schoolwide celebrations of art, pies, music, reading of Enemy Pie by classroom teachers and in the library.

Pease Elementary Peace Through Pie Social
Pease Elementary School, 1106 Rio Grande St.

Scheduled in all classrooms January–March

“Enemy Pie” will be read to students in every grade level. On quarter slices of paper plates, each child will write, "Peace begins with me. I can (insert action) to bring peace to others.” They will decorate their pie plate and those plates will be displayed throughout the hallways.

For more information, please contact Peace Through Pie Communications Director Stephen Vogel at (214) 738-1962 or visit www.peacethroughpie.org.

Social media can be shared at https://www.facebook.com/PeaceThroughPie, https://twitter.com/PeaceThroughPie and http://instagram.com/peacethroughpie.