At Aliso Niguel High School, following the previous No Place for Hate events, including the Week of Understanding with Keith Hawkins, the school presents a new group to combat prejudice still existing on campus: the Cultural Proficiency Task Force.
As a new development by the administration, the group is currently searching for students to recruit to join the leadership team. Targeting upperclassmen to lead the school in the greater pursuit of the anti-discrimination policy, Aliso has been taking a stand against prejudice through multiple initiatives, including this one.
Helping solve conflicts in terms of culture on campus, the Cultural Proficiency Task Force helps carry out the ANHS mission of providing a safe and inclusive environment for all students that attend.
“Worrying about discrimination due to cultural status is a problem that the ANHS administration does not want students to deal with,” says one member of the administration team.
This year’s opportunity for people to join the Cultural Proficiency Task Force is already past, but spreading knowledge of the group will hopefully allow more to take part in the future. The opportunity to join happened on Tuesday, Nov. 28. Interested participants need only fill out a Google Form and the Zoom link would be shared with them.
As aforementioned, the opportunity has passed, but the process to take part will likely remain similar next year as well as future years.
Joining the virtual meeting opened the opportunity for individuals to have a voice in the mission discussing highlights, concerns, and celebrations on campus related to diversity and inclusion within the school.
The school administration is again in charge of this group and initiative, similar to many other groups on campus that fulfill similar goals. Ms. Hosseini remains directly in charge of dealing with the Cultural Proficiency Task Force, as she is also one of the administration heads of No Place for Hate.
After the initial meeting in November, the task force also met in person on Jan. 25 from 6 to 7 p.m. for Keith Hawkins Parent Night. This took place during the larger Week of Understanding event also geared towards fulfilling the mission of anti-discrimination. Getting the parents involved on top of the already committed student leaders helped amplify the impact on campus.
One of those student leaders at the Week of Understanding present at the event, Cindy Yang (12), says, “The work of groups like No Place for Hate and the Cultural Proficiency Task Force definitely make Aliso’s campus a better environment for people of all diverse backgrounds.”
The next meeting takes place virtually on Tuesday, Feb. 13 from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Discussing cultural literacy and sensitivity dealing with on-campus issues and sharing solutions are just some of the actions and priorities of the group.
The task force is open for students, parents, staff, community members, and administrators to join and work towards that shared goal. Those that become part of that task force also help support events by preparing for various school wide activities.
