SUMMIT HELPS STUDENTS HEIGHTEN AWARENESS.

Byline: Orith Goldberg Staff Writer

Seventh- and eighth-graders from four junior high schools laughed, joked, watched, listened and learned Thursday how to recognize and prevent conflict during the Youth Summit '99, ``Reality Check . . . Check Yourself'' at the Santa Clarita Sports Complex.

With the premise that each person is master of his or her destiny, the program sets out to empower students to make the best decisions for their future.

``The purpose of this is to address problems before there is a misinterpretation,'' said Michele Krantz, Associated Student Body director and history teacher at Sierra Vista Junior High School. ``As educators, we need to provide the students with the tools to coexist with others.''

About 96 students from Arroyo Seco, La Mesa, Sierra Vista and Placerita junior high schools attended the all-day summit sponsored by the city of Santa Clarita. Participants split into four groups, and 29 newly trained Peacemakers At Work from Westminster High School in Orange County led discussions and workshops focusing on conflict resolution, anger management and improvement of communication skills.

The beauty of the event was that the recently trained P.A.W. members reinforced what they had learned by conducting the very exercises they were trained with on Santa Clarita Valley students.

Exercises ranged from learning skills for problem-solving and team building to compromise and increased communication.

During an exercise focusing on nonacceptance by a peer group, students were handed a playing card with a number that designated their social acceptance status at school.

Those receiving numbers from 2 to 5 were ``not cool;'' 6 through 10 were ``average'' and face cards were the ``popular'' kids - designations for the exercise.

Students were told not to look at their card, but to place it on their forehead and pretend to be at a party. Others were to treat them according to their social status.

As students began walking and trying to start conversations, the ``not cool'' students weren't given the time of day. The cool students were greeted with respect and admiration without making the slightest bit of effort.

After five minutes, students were asked to file into the group they believed they had been categorized in, based on how they were treated.

Almost everyone guessed correctly.

Carly Torgerson, a 17-year-old senior at Westminster High School and P.A.W. representative, said the students were learning that they could make a difference by making wise and conscious decisions.

``We talk about learning to say no,'' she said. ``When someone asks you to do something you don't want to, you restate it, then you say no and give them a logical reason.''

CAPTION(S):

Photo

PHOTO Peer counselors, called Peacemakers At Work, talk to students from the four Santa Clarita junior high schools at the Youth Summit '99.

Hans Gutknecht/Staff Photographer