FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sandy Hook Promised Partnered Schools are Presented with Los Angeles Unified School District the Human Relations Award for Creating a Safer School Environment
Los Angeles Unified School District’s Commission on Human Relations, Diversity, and Equality Recognizes Student Groups That Support Inclusive and Affirming School Campuses
Sandy Hook Promise (SHP) praises the 11 Los Angeles Unified School District high schools that were presented with the 2018/19 Human Relations Award for making positive contributions toward creating safer, respectful, and healthy learning environments. These schools are being recognized by Los Angeles Unified for “being the change we wish to see.”
Seven of the schools being recognized also partnered with Sandy Hook Promise to adopt SAVE Promise Clubs within their school communities to help foster more supportive learning environments:
· Eagle Rock Junior and Senior High School
· Marshall High School
· Monroe High School
· San Fernando High School
· San Pedro High School
· University High School
· Van Nuys High School
“It is so encouraging to see that within a year of starting their SAVE Promise Clubs, students are embodying the key takeaways from the Say Something and Start with Hello programs and infusing them throughout school culture, promoting a more supportive and connected learning environment,” said Mark Barden, co-founder and managing director of Sandy Hook Promise and father of Daniel who was killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting. “Every student should be in a school environment that is positive, inclusive, and safe and these student leaders are kickstarting a cultural shift that can impact the next generations.”
SHP’s SAVE Promise Clubs are youth-led clubs that encourage and empower student leaders to organize activities that reinforce Sandy Hook Promise’s Know the Signs program curriculum. The clubs recognize the unique role that young people can have in making their school and communities safer and provides them with the tools to create a culture of looking out for one another, being “upstanders,” and preventing violence before it happens.
To date, more than 7.5 million people nationwide have been trained in Sandy Hook Promise’s proven Know the Signs programs that focus on prevention to help end the epidemic of gun violence by training youth and adults how to identify at-risk behavior and intervene to get help before a tragedy can occur. Through these no-cost programs, Sandy Hook Promise has averted multiple school shooting plots, as well as countless teen suicides and other acts of violence.
About Sandy Hook Promise: Sandy Hook Promise (SHP) is a national nonprofit organization based in Newtown, Connecticut and led by several family members whose loved ones were killed in the tragic mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School on December 14, 2012. SHP’s mission is to prevent gun violence (and other forms of violence and victimization) BEFORE it can happen by educating and mobilizing youth and adults to identify, intervene, and get help for at-risk individuals. SHP is a moderate, above-the-politics organization that supports sensible program and policy solutions that address the “human side” of gun violence by preventing individuals from ever getting to the point of picking up a firearm to hurt themselves or others. Our words, actions, and impact nationwide are intended to honor all victims of gun violence by turning our tragedy into a moment of transformation. For more information, visit www.sandyhookpromise.org or call 203-304-9780.
###
Media Contact:
Dini von Mueffling Communications | Stephanie Morris [email protected] | 646-650-5005