Capistrano Valley High School juniors, Bertha Olmedo and Cristian Aguilar, were nominated and selected to serve in the Diversity, Inclusion & Racial Healing Ambassador Program at University of California, Irvine (UCI). This program brings juniors from several schools to participate in seminars about topics that affect student populations across the country. They will touch topics that include: race issues, daily stereotypes, political opinions, ethnic/religious backgrounds, and student hardships. Bertha shared, “I am proud to be given this opportunity because looking at the topics to be discussed I expect to gain knowledge on how things like race and religion contribute to creating barriers for each and every one of us. I hope to use this information to contribute to discussions and projects in my own school to allow us to be more open and welcoming toward one another.”
They both attended their first meeting on April 12. Capistrano Valley High School provided transportation for them to attend to and from UCI. Representatives of Dana Hills High School, EL Modena High School, El Toro High School, Fountain Valley High School, Garden Grove and Westminster all participated. One thing that Cristian shared was, “When we began our discussions I realized that I was going to be receiving a different perspective of the world. I know that I am going to learn a lot more from people and the struggles they face because of their color or ethnicity.” Breakthrough encourages our students to be active members of society and open-minded to daily issues that arise within their community.
