Creating a school where everyone fits in

The Mix It Up Campaign at Bear Creek High School, Stockton, Calif.

by Carrie Boron

December 1, 2004 | | Stockton, CA

The word "diverse" is the first thing that comes to mind when you visit the campus of Bear Creek High School in Stockton, California. African-Americans, Filipinos, European Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans, Asian Americans-all of these ethnicities and races are under the same roof. This rich diversity is a good thing, but at times, Bear Creek students don't see it that way.

Tensions between these different groups often flare, especially in a school that was originally built to house half as many students (1,800 instead of 2,600). A snide remark can instantly spark a racially charged fight. One week it's a fight between African-Americans and Hispanics or between Filipinos and Hispanics. This week it could be a fight between European Amercians and African-Americans. How does a school stop a cycle of violence and racism?

With no end to fights in sight and a growing divide between different ethnic and social groups, Bear Creek Guidance Counselor Lori Laughlin knew that things had to change. One day while reading Teaching Tolerance magazine, she discovered Mix It Up at Lunch Day and Mix It Up Dialogues. This national campaign-sponsored by Teaching Tolerance, Tolerance.org and the Study Circles Resource Center-helps students talk about cliques and stereotypes and work together to make their school a more welcoming campus. Laughlin knew that Bear Creek was ripe for Mix It Up.

With support from the school's popular principal, Bill Toledo, Laughlin took the helm and, in fall 2003, she incoporated Mix It Up into the school's "SPIRIT" leadership program. SPIRIT members work with Toledo to solicit recommendations from students on how to make their school a better place. Laughlin and SPIRIT members agreed that Mix It Up complemented their program's mission "to make a positive change within ourselves and the Bear Creek community to improve our school environment."

"We needed to pull our student body together to help make Bear Creek a place where everyone fits in," says Guidance Counselor Lori Laughlin. "Mix It Up offered a way for students to meet new people, disassemble stereotypes, and create a better understanding about different groups."

The SPIRIT team and Laughlin started creating a buzz about Mix It Up. They handed out Mix It Up pins, flooded the school campus with colorful posters and fliers and announcements, and covered the campus pavement with "SideWalk Thoughts"-thought provoking questions around race and ethnicity. All of these things caught the attention of the student body, but SPIRIT needed to work on the next step: getting students to participate in Mix It Up.

On the day of Mix It Up at Lunch, SPIRIT members visited all third-period classes to announce the event. They handed out poker cards indicating where to go at lunch time for the Mix It Up Dialogues. Curiosity and the incentive of extra credit motivated most students to participate, but Laughlin and SPIRIT faced one big challenge: the school's open-campus lunch policy for juniors and seniors. Students needed enticement to stay on campus, so SPIRIT set up an outdoor lunch line serving a variety of off-campus fare, including Subway and Little Caesar's Pizza. At $5 per lunch, many juniors and seniors skipped their privileges and stayed on campus for the event.

With lunch trays in hand, students followed maps around campus to join their designated Mix It Up group for 30 minutes to talk about how stereotypes and cliques affect their school. On the flip-side of each poker card, students found suggestions for conversation starters to help break the ice-"In my free time, I like to." or "My favorite sports team is." These short discussions only gave students a taste of Mix It Up, but it was enough to pique their curiosity.

After Mix It Up at Lunch Day, SPIRIT invited students to take part in Bear Creek's Mix It Up Discussion Circles. Participation was voluntary so students would be more open and relaxed in the discussions. Select students and teachers were also trained as facilitators to help create a safe place for participants to discuss their feelings and attitudes about such sensitive issues as race and racism and stereotypes.

For the next four Tuesdays, more than 60 students spent their lunches in Mix It Up Discussion Circles. By the second session, most students were comfortable sharing their experiences and thoughts on stereotypes. They enjoyed the discussions so much that they started inviting their friends to join in.

"Talking about the problems we face every day at school helped us get to know each other better," says student and SPIRIT member Amanda Rose Bondoc. "Now we're looking for solutions to stop the fights and unite as a school."

Since fall 2003, more than 300 Bear Creek students have participated in the Mix It Up Discussion Circles, and the number continues to grow.

"Each year we reinvent the Mix It Up campaign to keep it fresh and interesting," says Laughlin. "Mix It Up isn't something that you just do; it's a process that helps build a foundation where students and teachers can work together to change the school's culture."

The circles haven't solved all of the school's problems. In fact, the freshmen class started picking fights with upperclassmen creating rifts between different ethnic groups. SPIRIT members realize that they need to do a better job of reaching out to these younger students, especially since they're the future of Mix It Up at Bear Creek.

The student-led group knows it has a lot of work ahead of them. But students involved with Mix It Up already see a difference in their school as a result of the initiative. Students from different groups are starting to say "hello" to each other-a small sign that things are changing at Bear Creek High School.

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