Every year at SJHHS the No Place For Hate (NPFH) task force prepares lunch seminars to educate students on issues seen commonly around campus.
With guidance from teachers Fernanda Aguilar and Lorena Perez Sanchez, NPFH is led by students who were nominated by their teachers to advocate for inclusivity and community building. Though Unity Week happens over five days, the road of preparation is challenging and a much longer process.
This year is the fifth annual Unity Week, with presentations on human rights, multiculturalism, empathy, religious diversity, and mental health.
As explained by some NPFH students, the road leading up to Unity Week can become stressful with their tight schedules. They start with their annual on-campus retreat sponsored by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) where they do activities, build leadership skills, and pick their Unity Week topics. Then, each member is assigned a topic to start building their presentation and collecting the necessary information. Next, which students define to be one of the most difficult steps, finding a guest speaker. They have to coordinate with the guest speaker so they can properly include their information and make sure they are available on the day of their presentation. Finally, they present in the SJHHS theater or theater conference room with their group.
“The process of creating the slides with information that is correct and presentable for our audience is about a 7 (on a scale of 1-10) just because we need to make sure everything is perfectly done,” said NPFH task force member Jacqueline Olivera.
Every presentation has their own leaders.. These leaders carry the most responsibilities and stress. They oversee their group members to ensure they are completing their work and understand how to do it. Along with that, they have to be a role model for their group so NPFH is properly represented during Unity Week. I think it’s very rewarding to see our task force members become leaders and really blossom as advocates and of citizens that really respect and demand equity and acceptance and working together,” — Fernanda Aguilar
“Overall, we must go over and beyond to gain the trust and participation of everyone in the group because our main focus is to get to know each other and be able to communicate with one another so that we provide our campus with a great example of the word Unity,” said Olivera.
The stress of Unity Week for the students generally originates from putting the presentation together and coordinating plans with the guest speaker all with a tight schedule. The presentation had to have accurate information and look presentable, and coordinating with the guest speaker was tough since they were often busy and they typically weren’t able to communicate with them in person.
From a teacher’s perspective, Aguilar finds most of her stress originates from things like coordinating the event, communicating with the guest speakers, keeping track of attendance, supplying posters and t-shirts for the task force, providing food, and ensuring the presentations are appropriate.
“Especially second semester like right now I’m feeling the thick of it so trying to coordinate all the logistics as far as our facilities and being able to have all that locked in is a lot of work,” said Aguilar.
Though the workload can be demanding and stressful, students find Unity Week to be an overall exciting experience. They enjoy learning about new topics, meeting new people, and listening to the guest speakers. As for the teachers, they find it rewarding to watch their students learn and become advocates for a healthier community here at SJHHS.
