Helping her peers Mix It Up at school

Amy Bondoc

by Julie Fanselow

September 26, 2005 | Focus on Study Circles, Vol.16, No.2 | Stockton, California

 

Amy Bondoc (center holding sign) poses for
a photo with fellow Bear Creek High School
classmates while presenting on Mix It Up
Dialogues at TeenWorks 2004 conference.

A school of more than 2,600 students isn’t the easiest place to stand out—or fit in. But Amy Bondoc, a recent graduate of Bear Creek High School in Stockton, California, made a niche for herself when she became an organizer of the school’s Mix It Up program. Just as important, she helped other students discover their talents and reach beyond the social and racial barriers of high school life.

Not many years ago, fighting among students was a real problem at Bear Creek. The diversity of the student population was one factor; so was overcrowding, since Bear Creek was built for only 1,800 students. In 2003, guidance counselor Lori Laughlin, then head of the school’s conflict mediation center, heard about Mix It Up, a joint project of the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Study Circles Resource Center that helps students identify, question, and cross racial and social boundaries.

Laughlin called on student leaders to help coordinate a Mix It Up at Lunch Day and follow-up discussion circles. Bondoc was a natural choice since she was a member of the school’s conflict mediation team, and active in Bear Creek’s “Link Crew,” which helps freshmen get settled on campus. In the first year of Mix It Up, Amy used her school connections to help the organizing team recruit more than 600 students to take part in the dialogue.

The following year, Bondoc wrote discussion guidelines to help students focus on what it means to give and receive pride and respect at school and beyond. Later, she and fellow Bear Creek student David Nguyen teamed with SCRC and Tolerance.org to present Mix It Up success tips at the Coalition of Essential Schools’ 2004 Fall Forum in San Francisco.

Longtime Bear Creek principal Bill Toledo and Lisa Deeter, who has taken over Laughlin’s job, agree that Mix It Up definitely improved the school climate. Three years ago, student surveys mentioned racial tensions as a key concern. “Now it’s rarely brought up,” says Deeter. Toledo credits Mix It Up and the follow-up discussion circles with giving students opportunities to talk about differences instead of resorting to violence. The educators also give kudos to Bondoc, whose quiet leadership style and can-do attitude motivated her peers to get involved. “She is very perceptive, very aware of the whole picture and how people influence their own outcomes,” Laughlin says.

Ask Bondoc how many hours she put in weekly on her leadership roles—which also included student government—and it’s clear she doesn’t view her activities as extracurricular. “I apply my values the whole school day, no matter what I am doing,” she says. “Helping people has always been my passion.”

Bondoc is now in her first year at Fresno State, where she plans to major in business. She’d like to become an entrepreneur someday, and she believes the skills she learned at Bear Creek—teamwork and listening with an open mind—will serve her well in the business world. But the experience has been rich on a personal level, too. Bondoc hopes her four younger siblings will benefit from the results of her activism and continue the tradition, becoming activists themselves someday. “Being an example for my brothers and sisters is what motivates me,” she says.

Bear Creek High School's Mix It Up Dialogue program at a glance:

City and state: Stockton, California
Population of Bear Creek High School: 2,600
Focus of Mix It Up: Social barriers and school climate
Number of Mix It Up Dialogue participants: 600

Read more in our fall 2005 special issue of Focus

Learn more: Youth Issues