Really big concepts can be hard to grasp, like global warming, an infinite universe or world peace.

Jes Ward thinks about world peace. She is the Rocky Mountain affiliate director for the PeaceJam Foundation, an international organization that makes peace a working vision every day.

As a freshman at Golden High School in 1996, Ward was a self-described "loner student," involved mostly in her studies until she was exposed to PeaceJam and got to meet and work with Tutu at a conference at Regis University in 1997. It changed her.

"I was hooked already, but then getting to meet Desmond Tutu, there's nothing like that," she remembers. The school group had studied Tutu and his work against South African apartheid.

"He was a hero to us at that point," she remembers, noting that PeaceJam conferences typically involve working with the laureates over a weekend on real issues, not just gathering to hear a few speeches.

About a year after she graduated, Ward was asked to become the Rocky Mountain regional director. Now in her eighth year, she manages the programs in Colorado, Wyoming and Montana from the headquarters at 5605 Yukon St. in Arvada.

PeaceJam was born after Ivan Suvanjieff, a Denver artist and musician who worked with gangs, and Dawn Engle, founder of Colorado Friends of Tibet, brought a crazy idea to the Dalai Lama -- working together with youth for peace. The exiled Tibetan leader encouraged bringing in other Nobel Peace laureates and that launched the PeaceJam program in 1996.

Since then, more than a half-million youth have taken part in 300,000 service projects created through the organization.

PeaceJam brought an unprecedented 10 Nobel Peace laureates to the University of Denver for its 2006 conference, including the Dalai Lama and Tutu.

Helping to make real change, Ward says, can be daunting.

"It's terrifying, honestly," she says. "One of the Nobel laureates often talks about real change means a change in the lives of people, it means a change in the expectations that we have, it means a change in all of these things... are we willing to ask that deeper question to truly do what it takes, to change the world? And a lot of people are very scared of what that means, what does it truly mean? So when I go to bed at night, I get excited, because I do feel that the students that are going through PeaceJam are ready for that, they want that ...they're demanding so much of us as an organization to help pave the way.

"I feel really lucky to be able to do this," Ward adds, "and be able to work with young people in this way, because as Desmond Tutu said young people are who create change -- if you look at every great movement throughout the world, it's largely led by young people. And so if we start having faith in the fact that they can do it, they're going to be the ones to do it -- and they're tired of being patient."

For more on PeaceJam, visit www.peacejam.org.

Editors Note: Jes Ward was asked to write an additional story on the PeaceJam program specifics. Here is that article:

PeaceJam is a year-long educational program for youth based on the lives of the 10 Nobel Peace Laureates who make up the PeaceJam board. Each curricular level explores the lives and work of these extraordinary leaders in a different way and also contains components that are designed to draw out leadership, initiative, critical thinking, and positive character traits. Through this program students also work to build or strengthen effective conflict resolution and problem solving skills. Each curriculum includes a service component that is centered around the Global Call to Action and addresses one of ten issues identified by the Nobel Peace Laureates as the most pressing issues of our time.

The PeaceJam Juniors program is designed for youth who are age 5-11. This unique curriculum explores the lives of each Nobel Peace Laureate-each chapter focusing on one laureate and beginning with their childhood story. After this engaging introduction, elementary age students explore a specific conflict resolution skill and positive character trait that the Nobel Laureate embodies. This curriculum is generally offered in school settings as either a supplemental curriculum for classroom teachers or as an after school enrichment program.

The PeaceJam Leaders program is the newest PeaceJam program. The curriculum addresses the specific needs of young people between the ages of 11-14. Similar to the Juniors program, each chapter in the Leaders program features a vignette from the adolescent life of the Nobel Peace Laureate which includes a specific issue they faced during that time in their lives. Youth then participate in activities and discussions that foster positive identity development. This program is most often offered in a study hall, advise, home room, or after school program setting.

The PeaceJam Ambassadors program is PeaceJam's flagship program. Students in this program are high school age and spend the entire year in in-depth study of the life and work of the Nobel Peace Laureate. Participating students also explore the dimensions of violence, oppression, and peacemaking through this case-study based curriculum. These students have the opportunity to meet and work directly with a Nobel Peace Laureate at a PeaceJam Youth Conference that takes place each spring.

Each of these dynamic programs is based on three components-education, inspiration, and action. To get involved all youth or teachers need to do is contact our office for an information kit and register their PeaceJam group with the PeaceJam Foundation.

For those of you who are not youth, there are still ways to be involved! Volunteers are always needed and greatly appreciated. Volunteering can be catered to fit your schedule and interests. Also, the PeaceJam Global Call to Action is an open invitation for everyone to get involved in addressing ten of the most important issues facing humanity today. Gather a group of friends and create a project to address a local or global issue and submit your project to PeaceJam to be recorded in the Global Call efforts.