Pomona High commits itself to being the first Zerohour! Distinguished school.

After much planning and coordination on the part of community members, the Pomona Unified School District's superintendent's office, Pomona High's Administrative Team, parents and other school stakeholders the Pomona High School community committed itself last spring to becoming Los Angeles County's first Zerohour! Distinguished School. Pomona 's Zerohour! Advisory Committee has met several times to go over the Human Relations goals that the school community wishes to accomplish during this school year. Pomona High has a history of dealing proactively with Human Relations issues emphasizing student participation. The school also has a parent group that is eager to work on Human Relations issues. The Principal and members of their administrative team attended our Zerohour! Teacher Administrator conference. The District Superintendent's Office, represented by Assistant Superintendent Richard Martinez, has been very supportive of the goals and objectives set forth by the Pomona High Zerohour! School Team. A campus action team is being formed with traditional and natural leaders from the school and will be taken on a retreat that will be facilitated by the Anti Defamation League's A World of Difference staff. Students and staff are already working on activities for Mix-it-up Day in order to get the Human Relations ball rolling. With such buy-in from stakeholders representing students, community members, parents, District Officials, teachers and Administrators everyone will continue to do even stronger work around Human Relations and instill even more pride in Pomona.

Denim Day
April 30,2008

Our hard work and dedication paid off!! On April 23rd, 2008, Denim Day was celebrated at Pomona High School. Catalina Lopez, and I were the chairpersons for Denim Day. We are both sophomores here at Pomona High School and are part of the first Diversity and Social Justice Class. Planning for this important day began a couple of weeks ago, when Mrs. Balk, our advisor, chose Catalina and I to be chairpersons. After this, tasks were assigned to each member of the D.S.J. [Diversity and Social Justice] class and so we began an impressive life experience. We all worked extremely hard to get our tasks done and could not wait for the finished product. Catalina and I were responsible for the outcome of the day. Ana and Nicole, fellow students in the D.S.J. class, were in charge of making eye-catching buttons using a button maker Mrs. Balk provided. Catalina and I were the first to make buttons, since we had to figure out how the machine actually worked. We were excited to see that every single detail toward making Denim Day successful was working...more

Day of Silence @ Pomona High School
By: Jessica Caro, Keannie Arvizu, Janette Ambriz, Johnette Punch, and Hilario Rafael

The Day of Silence is an annual day in which an oath of Silence is taken. The silence on this day honors the people who have been harassed, abused, or made fun of for their sexuality.

The preparation for this day involved ambitious teamwork between the PHS students in the GSA, Campus Action Team, and Peer Resource classes to make a difference. First, posters were made for the upcoming events and were posted around campus. Second, we sent students out to discuss the purpose of the Day of Silence and see if anyone wanted to sign up for the event. Once the event came close, we sent reminders to the people who pledged to participate. We made the placards and buttons for the Day of Silence to hand out to the participants.

After the students received their materials, they were encouraged to attend the debriefing session with one of our supporting teachers during 6th period in the gym to discuss our experiences.

"When I walked out of room 8 once I signed in, I couldn't believe I was actually going to stay quiet all day," shared Keannie Arvizu. "People tried to make me talk; it was really tempting. Toward the end, I would say a few words, but only words like yes or no. For example, my friend asked me for a pencil and I said no."...more

Unity theme at the diverse Pomona High
By Monica Rodriguez,
Staff Writer of Daily Bulletin

POMONA - With "The Pink Panther Theme" in the background, a girl and a boy played the roles of detectives in long raincoats armed with huge magnifying glasses searching the Pomona High School gym Thursday for unity.

The search before about 800 members of the student body was a central piece of Unity Week, designed to improve relations on the diverse campus...more

Martin Luther King, Jr. was honored by the Pomona High School students with a mural that was presented to the student body during an assembly honoring the late civil rights leader. The project is a collaborative effort between the school, the Pomona Unified School District, the Los Angeles County Human Relations Commission and "Hands on Inland Empire", a program of the Inland Empire United Way.

Each of the five 4 by 7 foot panels has silhouettes of students engaged in diverse activities such as studying, playing sports and spending time together. Each panel contains an inspirational quote from King.

Sophomore Lori Phambui, one of the creators of the mural and shown on one of the silhouettes, comments that the final product "promotes what he was all about, that everyone is equal."

***Note: Credit must be given to Monica Rodriguez, Daily Bulletin reporter.

Zerohour Writers Diary

Dear Diary,

Today was a marvelous day; my classmates and I had a chance to go to Paramount Studios on Melrose in Hollywood and watched "Freedom Writers". This movie is a breathtaking movie that touches the heart. Some students had already watched it so this gave them a chance to really analyze it... more

Equal Rights for All Students Encouraged
By: Mesha Carr,12th grade
G is for Gay, S is for straight, and A is for Alliance. The GSA, (Gay Straight Alliance) is a safe space for all Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual,Transgender and Questioning (LGBTQ) students and their friends/allies to come share their experiences...More

Cultural Diversity Month Celebrated in Diverse Ways
Los Angeles - During the month of October, the Los Angeles County Commission on Human Relations calls upon community groups, private entities and other governmental agencies to join the Commission in celebrating what makes this County such a special place to live.

The Los Angeles County Commission on Human Relations, the Los Angeles City Department of Recreation and Parks, and ConnectLA, a non-profit group committed to bringing diverse communities and sectors together through shared projects, will be celebrating Cultural Diversity Month by coming together to celebrate "Teens Make a Difference Day" on Saturday, October 27, 2007...More

Inland Valley Daily Bulletin 7-17-07

Pomona group to get honors for anti-gang effort

Pomona CAT ready for Action!
Members of the Pomona zerohour Campus Action Team gave up their weekend and took to the mountains of Lake Arrowhead from December 1st through December 3rd. The retreat was designed in order to train CAT members to become Peer Trainers under the Anti-Defamation League's A World of Difference Program. CAT Members want to see Human Relations improve at Pomona High and have committed themselves to train all of their peers so that there's more understanding and appreciation of diversity at their school. The ADL's trainers were impressed with how sophisticated the students were already with regards to Human Relations issues and the knowledge that they gained will only strengthen their ability to spread peace at P-High. CAT members who were trained have already come up with a set of activities that they'll implement for the rest of the year beginnning with training their fellow CAT members who couldn't be there. Make sure to check this website to see all the wonderful activities that the CAT has planned.

Pomona CAT members "Mix It Up!"
The Pomona Campus Action Team members made the national "Mix It Up Day" the kickoff of their Zerohour effort. CAT members designed and implemented activities that would help "break down borders" between social groups on campus. Members of the team who planned and implemented the activity were really excited about how many people they got to participate in games to get to know people better like the "people scavenger hunt." Sporting their zerohour shirts and letting other students know that they want "No haters Here!" in Pomona High, the organizers and the participants enjoyed a lunch time in which the social boundaries in school were blurred. Great job Pomona CAT! Mix it up Day is a national day of action sponsored by the Southern Poverty Law Center intended to help students break down social barriers in schools across the country.

Youth stitching Pomona together say: "No Haters Here!"
On Thursday October 19th the Pomona Youth Commission sponsored their "Youth Block Party: Stitching Pomona Together” in which they dedicated to the city of Pomona the peace quilt that they've been working on with hundreds of Pomona youth for over two years. Students from Pomona High School as well as other youth from around the Pomona Valley area came to the event to show their support for the Youth Commission's peace efforts in Pomona . The event was not only a success because it brought over fifty youth leaders together with City Councilmembers and other community leaders but because it sent a message that youth in Pomona want peace in their communities.

More 2007 Archive News and Events