POTS Interview With the Santa Cruz Sentinel

Today a POTS member will be interviewed by the Santa Cruz Sentinel. Check back tomorrow for a link to the article. Don't forget, the forum is this Saturday, May 29!

Peace On the Streets Forum Update!

Here is a rough draft of the POTS Forum schedule and a list of confirmed community organizations & individuals attendees who may be giving presentations and also a list of probable attendees. The official and final schedule and lists will be released soon. Stay tuned.

Created POTS Community Forum Schedule:

9:00-10:00 Set up

10:00-10:45 Introduction

Mission statement & vision

Student voices (poetry, etc.)

Directions/overview of day

10:55-12:10 “Speed Dating” Workshops

3 Workshops at 20 minutes each with a 5 minute passing time (total of 12 workshops)

12:20-1:20 Whole Group Dialogue

Student guided table dialogue

POTS creates 4 questions that table groups discuss; each table group has a note pad and a recorder

Tables share back; Next steps & Conclusions

1:20-2:00 Resource Fair & Lunch (?)

Community organizations have tables with information, volunteer opportunities, etc.

II Groups Who May Give Workshops/Presentations

Brown Berets

Resource Center for Non Violence

Non Violent Communication

coAction

Danny Keith (Grind for Hunger)

Kika Lopez (ex gang member)

Leonie Sherman

Barrios Unidos

III Community Organizations & Individuals Who Would Like to Attend:

coAction—Lauren Kucera

Barrios Unidos—Emily

NVC—Kristin Masters

Kika Lopez and cousins

City Council—Don Lane

La Familia Center—Yolanda

Grind for Hunger—Danny Keith

Leonie Sherman—Safety Trainer

SCEF

Beach Flats Community Center—Reyna

Brown Berets

Resource Center for Non Violence

Sandino gives a presentation on the History of Gangs

Marciano Cruz

Cynthia Hawthorne (Santa Cruz City Schools Board)

Peace On the Streets Press Release

Student Group Organizes Community Forum Calling For Peace On The Streets

It was a sunny day in April with sunlight streaming in through the large windows, overlooking the lawn of Santa Cruz High School, but the mood of the class was somber.

Students sat with their desks pulled into a circle. Some students cried; others held each other. It was time for English class with teacher Catherine Franke, but instead of discussing literature, the students were discussing their feelings after another member of the Santa Cruz High School community, Carl Reimer, was killed. Some students expressed their fears and anger, but most students agreed that they wanted to take action to heal themselves and their community. “I think we need to clean up the mess caused by all the violence in this town. I am literally afraid to walk around Santa Cruz at night,” said senior Melissa Schott-Atkins.

Within days a new student group, Peace on The Streets, was born. “I am in Peace On the Streets because I want to see a change in our community, a change in which peaceful resolutions can replace violent confrontations, and our community can be united, diverse and strong,” said Junior, Mikaela Aguilar. The group began meeting twice a week with the goal of organizing a forum to give students a voice and an opportunity to connect with other community groups. The forum is about building bridges, dialogue, and community. Most importantly it is about student empowerment.


**The forum will be on Saturday May 29th at the Louden Nelson Community Center from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The vision is a meeting where students will learn about ways they can get involved in positive projects in the community and build alliances for continued work. The group is inviting community organizations who work with teens to conduct workshops about their work to advocate for peace in Santa Cruz. Expected participants include coAction, a group “offering tools and dialogue which inspire us to move through the barriers of racism and pave the way toward a thriving and socially just world,” the Beach Flats Community Center, la Familia Center, Barrios Unidos, reformed gang members, community facilitators trained in the art of non-violent communication and other groups that have dedicated themselves to increasing the peace of Santa Cruz County.

Open Forum being planned for late May!

Peace On the Streets will be holding a public open-forum at the Santa Cruz High gym in late May.

Check back in for more information soon to come.

Welcome to the official Peace On the Streets Blog!

Peace On the Streets is a non-violent program founded at Santa Cruz High School by a group of committed students and teachers. Peace On the Streets is made up of people seeking to truly make a change in our community. A change of approach, direction, and method to bring about a significant shift in the mind-state and culture of a community. A community disrupted and disconnected due to a recent increase in local gang violence and prejudiced judgments made by some. Our aim is to inform the community of the student/teenage perspective and our opinion on a topic that directly affects many of us directly or indirectly. We are a group that feels in some way or another personally connected with recent deaths and events. We use our emotions and opinions as motivation to take action using peaceful measures to bring about an actual change in our environment. We are dedicated, and determined to show the people's voice can be heard and it can be powerful.