More than 500 elementary students from nine Catholic schools converged upon 63rd Street Beach on a sunny May 14 for a rally to pray for a peaceful summer. It was the second-annual rally sponsored by the Black Deacons of Chicago and the Office for Black Catholics. Deacon Leroy Gill from Holy Angels Parish, 615 E. Oakwood Blvd., started off the day by recalling when Jesus greeted the Apostles after the Resurrection, he said "Peace be with you." "My dear children, to sum up the purpose of the day," Gill said, "we all want to say peace be with you." He added that everyone would be praying for them during the summer. "We don't want anything to happen to you," Gill told the students, many of who live in some of the city's roughest neighborhoods. During the service rapper Justus from St. Sabina Parish performed. Father Andrew Smith from St. Ailbe Parish delivered a brief homily following the Gospel reading. The students also heard from Miss Black Illinois Imani Josey. Students from Holy Angels Parish led their peers in a pledge to end violence. The students are part of Students Against Violence Everywhere, or SAVE. Holy Angels students started this chapter of a national group following the shooting death of their friend and classmate Darius Brown, 13, in August 2011. Amari Williams, an eighth-grader who grew up with Brown said her friend, known as "Bay Bay," is frequently in her thoughts. "It was very hurtful," Williams said of her friend's death. "I still, some days, just can't believe it." Williams wears a necklace with a cross and a medallion bearing his nickname and his birth and death years. She said gathering together for rallies like the one on May 12 helps the students get to know one another and form strong bonds. "Even though we are Catholic we still live in these communities with gun violence and gang violence," Williams said. Following the service, the priests and deacons present prayed over each child. Jackie Lucio, a fifth-grade teacher at St. Sabina Catholic Academy, 7801 S. Throop, said their students pray every day for peace on the streets. Her students were happy to join their peers on the beach to pray for peace. "It's a really good, positive way to end the year," Lucio said. "Any kind of rally for peace they are totally for."