STUDENTS HAVE CHANGE OF HART NEW GROUP HELPS TO DEFUSE TENSIONS, FIND COMMON SOLUTIONS.Byline: JUDY O'ROURKE Staff Writer NEWHALL -- Hart High School Hart High School may refer to:
n. 1. A noisy quarrel or fight. 2. A loud party. 3. A loud, roaring noise. intr.v. brawled, brawl·ing, brawls 1. To quarrel or fight noisily. 2. hope to galvanize gal·va·nize tr.v. gal·va·nized, gal·va·niz·ing, gal·va·niz·es 1. To stimulate or shock with an electric current. 2. their peers into talking out differences in a multi-ethnic, student-run group formed in the aftermath of the fight. One student said the blowup could become a catalyst for change. ``People may be skeptical about it, but I believe Change of Hart can make a difference on campus,'' said Roxanne Phen, 18, a member of the group who graduated this week. ``When people know people on a personal basis, it breaks down stereotypes.'' Twenty students form the nucleus of Change of Hart. The ``natural leaders'' were picked by 200-plus peers who clustered in small groups at an informal day-after student meeting held April 29. Some observers had speculated the fight -- among white, black and Latino students that resulted in four arrests -- was racially motivated. Greg Lee Greg Lee (born March 3, 1962 in Hebron, Nebraska) is an American actor and voice-actor. He attended York College (Nebraska) in York, Nebraska, and Oklahoma Christian University in Oklahoma City in the early 1980's. , the William S William, crown prince of Germany William or Frederick William, 1882–1951, crown prince of Germany, son of William II. In World War I he commanded (1914) an army on the Western Front and was nominal commander in the German attack . Hart Union High School District's diversity coordinator, concluded it was a personal dispute between cliques. The group of 20 told Lee about friction between campus cliques, how some students feel unjustly tracked to community colleges instead of four-year universities and how many desire more campus activities that reflect their international communities. Group member Kebra Sedam, a 10th-grader come fall, said a hierarchy of subgroups in the diverse student body contributes to the tension. ``It's the jocks, the cheerleaders Notable cheerleaders
The adults listened. ``More so than just being a racial divide, they have the feeling there was a class divide,'' Lee said. ``There are a lot of preferences they felt were in place for students who are more affluent. The student-run group was born after these concerns were shared with Principal Gary Fuller and school administrators. Advanced Placement psychology teacher Rhonda Carr lends the group support. Most Hart district schools provide peer mediation mediation, in law, type of intervention in which the disputing parties accept the offer of a third party to recommend a solution for their controversy. Mediation has long been a part of international law, frequently involving the use of an international commission, programs. More than 500 students on nine campuses, including Hart, participate in the Safe School Ambassador Program, in which selected students meet in private with teachers to report serious under-the-radar issues. The district is composed of six junior highs and six high schools. Change of Hart's members -- most of whom were seniors -- held four formal meetings and many informal ones, where anger and frustration gave way to devising potential solutions. Among them: creating their own alternative Associated Student Body, holding open student forums where tensions could be safely vented vent 1 n. 1. A means of escape or release from confinement; an outlet: give vent to one's anger. 2. An opening permitting the escape of fumes, a liquid, a gas, or steam. 3. , and launching student unions. After finals were over, some visited incoming students from Placerita Junior High School, briefing them on the problems and urging them to become active in the group. During Tuesday's graduation ceremony, Fuller mentioned the April 28 incident and thanked students who came forward to help restore order and commit to fostering good relations among the various groups. Phen, who in the fall will attend Claremont McKenna College A member of the Claremont Colleges, Claremont McKenna College is a small, highly selective, private coeducational, liberal arts college enrolling about 1100 students with a curricular emphasis on government, economics, and public policy. , a private liberal arts liberal arts, term originally used to designate the arts or studies suited to freemen. It was applied in the Middle Ages to seven branches of learning, the trivium of grammar, logic, and rhetoric, and the quadrivium of arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, and music. school, had a good experience at Hart. Social tensions found there are pretty universal, she said. ``(Racism) is not the identifying characteristic of Hart High School,'' she said. ``This is something that exists on every campus, something every school should work toward -- having unity on campus.'' Sign-up sheets jammed with names suggest the group will take off next year, she said. Summer break will pause the momentum, but Sedam hopes to regain it immediately when students return in the fall, before they find other diversions. Riku Matsuda of the Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. County Human Relations human relations npl → relaciones fpl humanas Commission commends the school for its student-led ``human relations'' effort. ``We believe young people have the answers, they know best which inter-group issues are affecting their campus, and they know the solutions that will work,'' he said. ``Administrative support, but not total control, is something we promote, and the Hart district has been one of the more responsive districts in the county to deal with inter-group tensions.'' He met with the group last week and hopes similar student-led groups are launched throughout the district next year. judy.orourke(at)dailynews.com (661) 257-5255 |
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