It was quite an honor when members of the Bookmakers and Dreamers club were invited to United Nations headquarters in New York for the first time in September of 2008 to participate in the observance of the International Day of Peace observations. The students were asked to give a presentation to the annual international youth conference with over 800 attendees in New York and with participation with students from Afghanistan, Liberia and Sudan at UN peacekeeping missions in those countries taking part through satellite communications. Students were addressed by Kiyo Akasaka of Japan, United Nations Secretary-General for Communications and Information and listened to the welcome address from United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon of South Korea in addition to an address by Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann, Nicaraguan diplomat, politician and Catholic priest who served as president of the 63rd session of the General Assembly.
Students were also addressed by UN Messengers of Peace, actor Michael Douglas, Nobel Laureate, writer and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel, primatologist and anthropologist Jane Goodall, and renown violinist Midori Goto. Highlights of the ceremony included the ringing of the Peace Bell and the flag ceremony.
