Earlier this year, in March 2023, there was a viral video that involved racist slurs within our community. The negative impact of this video leads us to want to grow in our understanding of the inclusiveness of racial and cultural diversity. In order to be better in the future, we have to continue to learn from our mistakes.

Valencia High student Annie Blue mentions, “I knew the people in the video. They were in my class. I would say it’s a messed up thing to say and post about.” According to Rio Norte Assistant Principal Mr. Flores, “The school board is doing their best to stop all these bad things going around about people’s race.” This leads us to the question: How can students at Rio Norte promote anti-racism?

This school year, Rio Norte has been encouraging kindness in several ways. There are new clubs such as Bring Change to Mind, run by Mrs. Abdullah, that bring changes to mind. The goal of the club is to increase awareness of our mental wellbeing. Students do many activities where they write all kinds notes to each other and stick them up everywhere when they are in the club.

Meaningful Mondays have been an integral part of Rio Norte’s weekly activities. These specific Mondays involve Advisory classes to participate in social-emotional learning lessons that involve equity and inclusion of all students. The purpose of Meaningful Monday is for kids to stop and think about the economy and how we can strengthen our character.

The English Learners of Rio Norte participated in their annual Cultural Day Event, which promoted awareness of the cultural diversity on our campus. RioTV has created kindness videos for students around the school and ASB has posted many papers and hung them up around the school to remind students to be kind to each other.

Principal Mrs. Bennett has stated, “I think any racism incident is bad because we are all human beings and what’s sad to me is kids today still don’t understand that it’s not ok.” Mrs. Bennett would like to see Rio Norte students being kind to everyone even when someone is having a bad day and to; be kind about how they respond and act. At Rio Norte, our school goals are to support a positive environment for everyone.

To avoid racist viral postings and to represent our school well, Riverhawks must remember to be kind to all cultures, races, religions, and types of people we come in contact with. When you are kind you will be making school life here at Rio Norte a better place. If you are seeing racist or inappropriate posting from a classmate on social media, be sure to report it by texting 661-213-9276 or emailing [email protected], All reports are confidential through the Rio Norte Care Text line.