SANTA MARIA, Calif. - Warriors for change. That was the theme of today's message to the students at Righetti High School.
It's all part of the school's effort to educate students on ways to handle their differences through a 3-day workshop that wrapped up on Wednesday.
School counselor Eric Blanco says, "it really is trying to empower students and help break down some of the barriers we have."
Blanco has been at the school for 8 years and he's made it his mission to tackle the issue of bullying. Central Coast News told you about the first step when the school recently added a bully button to the school app that allows quick and easy reporting of bullying.
"There are areas that we need to improve in," says Blanco. "We receive feedback from parents and students about all the things we do well. But there is still room for growth."
The workshop isn't entirely focused on bullying, but also encouraging students to accept their differences. Righetti students come from Guadalupe, Santa Maria, Orcutt, and the Los Alamos areas. Diversity is something these students deal with every day.
"Part of today is having students learn that even though we are diverse, there are a lot of commonalities that can bring us together rather than dividing," says Blanco.
Students said they didn't expect the workshop to impact them as much as it did. One student in particular said she was proud that her school brought the issue to the table.
Senior Kenya Guerrero says, "we can do something for our community, for other schools, to represent something."
