Hope must be planted. Jobs and understanding offered. Peace
and safety begins at school and moves into our streets.
Peace, civility, respect and care are essential qualities of character
that are learned and modeled. Two summers ago, Partners For
Peace began the Youth Employment Service for 100+ high-risk
youth. They earned academic credits, along with job training. The
impact was significant. Father Doyle says, "the fastest way to stop
a bullet is with a job." We found that to be true. The Safe Schools/
Healthy Students three-year federal grant allowed us to bring
School Resource Officers (Salinas Police Department) and
Probation Officers on our secondary campuses through a
partnership with the city of Salinas and Monterey County. That
partnership made students feel safer and more secure (according
to Safe School Survey administered to 7th, 9th and 11th graders
annually for the past three years). Budget cuts are threatening this
partnership. In search of new funding, I wrote a grant to the
California Department of Education last fall. It was selected as one
of eleven finalists. A panel of seven local officials, including Dr.
Roger Anton and Murry Scheckman from SUHSD, Margaret Mudd
and Manny Real from MC Probation Department, Brian Contreras
from Second Chance Youth Program, a representative of the
County Behavioral Health Department and myself. We received
high marks for our proposal, although no final funding decision
has been made. This kind of progressive action is what is needed
to help our students succeed. Building bridges and cultivating
peace is a demanding and constant endeavor. The good news is
that we live in an incredible valley and have some of the brightest
and most energetic young people in the country. Teachers,
clerics, service providers and neighbors who care are plentiful and
available, we need to expand our efforts. Adding a dedicated
bridge-builder to the board would help bring this to fruition.
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