The whole school crowded into the gym on Jan. 22 expecting to listen to an ordinary speech on bullying. To their surprise, motivational speaker Scott Backovich held their attention from his first awkward joke to his inspirational call on students to make school a welcoming place.      

Many students were captivated by and receptive to Backovich’s speech that urged them to speak out against bullying because of his sense of humor.

“The speaker kept us engaged throughout the assembly with his humor,” junior Farshad Feyzi said. “He really made us feel inspired to make a difference on campus.”

Besides two assemblies, the week incorporated lessons about improving the school atmosphere taught by teachers in each department. Working with members of the leadership class, departments took on a wide range of topics. 

English: social inclusion and exclusion

In the English classes, students organized a deck of cards with descriptions of social interactions into two piles that represented two different kinds of social groups, emphasizing the dangers of cliques and benefits of groups that actually click.

English teacher Amy Keys said the richest part of that activity was the students discussing and coming up with the categories because many different ideas came out when she separated the kids into groups.

As a teacher, Keys is thinking of ways of incorporating the different lessons from Speak Up for Change Week into the curriculum on a more daily basis.

“I was thinking of having more personal writing shared [in class],” Keys said. “We don’t do much of it in English 11 and it would be good for both building community as well as for developing writing skills,”

Social Studies: power of words

History teacher Kim Anzalone found a parallel between her AP US history curriculum on immigration and the lesson plan for Speak Up For Change Week.

“We are talking about Coolies, Paddies, names for different ethnic groups that are derogatory, which fed right into Speak Up for Change Week,” Anzalone said.  

Anzalone said she enjoyed teaching students life lessons. 

   
“Both as a department and personally, the overall feeling was that teaching lessons such as the power of words was immensely important as we like to prepare our students not only for college or a career, but also try to help create more positive social relationships,” she said.

Science: academic integrity

Chemistry teacher Kathy Nakamatsu chose to deliver her lesson through a survey and discussion on beliefs about academic integrity. The students anonymously answered “yes” or “no” to these questions and discussed their yes and no percentages afterwards.

She hoped to raise students’ awareness about the choices they’re making. 

“I think the students got awareness out of the survey and I was able to give percents and awareness [on the topic] of passing answers off,” Nakamatsu said.

Nakamatusu calculated that 87 percent of her students said that it was not OK to pass off answers to following classes, so she said that maybe the other 13 percent will think twice before passing of answers. 

Math: competition

Math teacher Audrey Warmuth showed her class an article from the L.A. Times and a video on YouTube talking about the “difference between pursuing something which you perceive to have a value or pursuing something that has genuine value.” Warmuth said these topics were especially relevant to her Calculus BC classes.

“We discussed choices on ‘why did you take this class’ and ‘did you take the class because you are really interested in it or because of your parents?’” Warmuth said.

By showing these stories through different media, Warmuth hopes that students will have a new perspective on their education and life plans.  

“I’m trying to have the kids reflect on why they make decisions as opposed to just following the crowd or doing things because they think they should be doing them,” Warmuth said.

Concluding assembly:

On the Friday of Speak Up for Change Week, the Leadership class put on an assembly to wrap up the week. The assembly began with a moving video of students who courageously spoke of their struggles and how they dealt with them.   

“I feel really lucky to have been able to film them because hearing these people’s stories was so eye opening and truly enriching,” said ASB president and leadership student Sasan Saadat.

Guidance counselor Eileen Allen and English teacher Erick Rector, both SHS alumni, talked to the school about the ups and downs their high school experience. They were followed by a slideshow of pictures of the leadership class organizing Speak Up for Change Week and freshman Nina Nelson singing an inspirational version of John Lennon’s “Imagine.”

One of the coordinators of Speak Up for Change Week, senior Rohil Taggarsi, said that the Leadership group’s hard work and planning since November paid off with the success of the week.    

“It was amazing how far we were able to delve into each individual aspect of a student's life and tie it into how we could take steps to better our future,” Taggarsi said.