Recognizing schools that have made an exceptional contribution to promoting, nurturing, protecting and/or cultivating a campus that is safe, welcoming and equitable.
Fountain Valley High Schools' human relations programs include a campus wide peer mediation program, mix it up activities like Project Pizza to create a welcoming environment, a month-long Diversity Film Festival and a Day of Dialog.
Katella High School developed the Leadership Equality and Peace Program; one of the most ambitious undertakings was its weeklong campaign against hate and violence which climaxed with a school district wide Unity Fest. The school also undertook a civil rights timeline project and raised funds for the Heifer Project.
Initiatives that Western High School's Pioneer Outreach Network for Diversity (POND) program has engaged in include weekly task force meetings, over 100 student-run human relations presentations, Freshman Focus retreats a week of Cultural Understanding presentations and International Week.
Community Leader Awards
Recognizing individuals or groups who have made extraordinary contributions to Orange County in the area of human or civil rights.
Dick Hitt was one of the primary researchers of the Orange County Historic LGBT Time Line Project. Since it's completion he has made numerous community presentations of the material. Dick is a long-time GLBT volunteer, organizer of the two diversity support groups at Disney, and a founder of Dignity Orange County, a national support group for gay Catholics.
Since 1990 Hamid Kahn and the South Asian Network (SAN) has been offering services and building capacity among members of the South Asian communities. SAN is committed to challenging systems of inequality and to advocate on behalf of health care, immigration, discrimination and women's issues. Its Executive Director, Hamid Kahn, acts in an entirely volunteer capacity and has worked tirelessly to “take a proactive stand against marginalization and to challenge the prejudices within.â€
Maria Khani has been extremely active in educating the Orange County community about Islam. She has served on the Board of Care-Are-Us, was an active member of the Huntington Beach Living Room Dialogues - recruiting a number of other Muslim women to participate, has presented countless workshops at Orange County symposiums and schools that clarified myths about Islam, is a member of the Huntington Beach Interfaith Council and the Council on Islamic Education, recently she was a key player in an Interfaith dialogue organized by OC Human Relations.
Gwen and Jim Johnson have left their mark as volunteers on Orange County since 1971. Between them, they've been extremely active with Share Our Selves, founded the Friends of Orange Coast Interfaith Shelter, touch ESL classes, been lay leaders with the church, founded the Citizens for Peace Building Initiative, acted as an advisor to Native American groups, on the Board of Many Hands Foundation, volunteered with Habitat for Humanity, and have taken People to People trips to Nepal, Russian, and Palestine/Israel.
Bob Martinez and the Latino Youth Leadership Institute - Bob Martinez is the prime architect behind the non-profit Latino Youth Leadership Institute. The organization believes that within every youth there is a potential for greatness. There are two main components of the Institute - an annual event that brings together over 1,000 Latino youth to empower and educate them and a "Leadership In Action" program, which is a comprehensive training which provides youth with the skills and inspiration to become future leaders in their communities.
For over 30 years the OC Chapter of Links Inc, a group of African American professional women, has served the community. International Trends and Services provides projects that enhance the quality of life of people around the world; National Trends and Services offers programs that revitalize and nurture a positive appreciation of others; Services to Youth improves the life options of young people, particularly those at-risk and Services Through the Arts creates and supports programs for individuals to enhance their artistic endeavors.
Community Policing Awards
Recognizing exemplary community-oriented policing projects or initiatives.
Cypress Police Department Police Training Officer Program - Cypress PD has implemented a training program for its officers that stresses community oriented policing and problem solving. The program has allowed new officers to meet with stakeholders in their assigned areas and to work collaboratively with those groups to resolve community issues and crime problems. As a result of this initiative, the community policing model has been institutionalized within the Department.
Irvine Police Department Asian Community Outreach Program (Officers Mike Li and Robert Hung) These two officers have gone above and beyond their assigned responsibilities to build bridges between the Irvine PD and the Asian community. The officers have participated in numerous community events, held training sessions for the Asian community on issues such as local civics and traffic law, and have introduced many of their police colleagues to the members of the Asians community and their cultural practices. These officer's efforts have established a strong base for future community-police connections.
OC Sheriff's Dept - San Clemente Parent Project. In 1996, in response to a community need for parent education addressing adolescent issues the Parent Project was implemented. For 10 years the Parent Project facilitation team has offered three 10-week classes per year in which over 700 parents have participated. Those participating have experienced a variety of problems with their adolescent children, including truancy, drug and alcohol use, gangs, violence and suicide attempts. Evaluations indicate 75% of parents experience positive change in the family unit.
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