Peer Mediation

Peer Mediation has taken off with a running start this school year. As of December 17, 2008 we had 135 mediation referrals. Of that number, 113 cases reached an acceptable agreement. Last year during the same time frame, 124 cases had been referred.

On May 21, 2008 Peer Mediation was recognized by the Schenectady County Human Rights Commission in “grateful appreciation of our untiring efforts and contributions to the cause of human rights in Schenectady County.” At the same ceremony, we also received a Certificate of Appreciation from Mayor Brian U. Stratton.

On Thursday October 23rd we held our all day Peer Mediation training for all returning and new mediators. Duke Fisher was our trainer. Duke is a mediator and trainer who has been exploring the cutting edge of Conflict Management and Mediation for the last 15 years. He currently is the lead trainer and co-founder of Learning Laboratories, an educational training and consulting business out of Upstate New York.

Peer Mediation attended the Harvest Leadership Conference hosted by Schenectady County SADD & STOP DWI on November 25. This was a day filled with workshops for area school Peer Leaders and was held at the Glen Sanders Mansion in Scotia. We heard from local law enforcement on issues of responsible driving by teens and safety on the Internet highway to learning how to de-stress or to do public speaking and presentations.

Several Peer Mediators helped pack food baskets for the Thanksgiving Food Drive on Saturday November 22nd in the freezing cold!! December 15th ended another successful year of the Toys for Tots collection that Peer Mediation has been affiliated with for several years.
Peer Mediation currently has 40 members of which 20 are from the GE house. We have been very busy and have some great activities planned for the future!!