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A student and a student support counselor at California High School in San Ramon are set to continue their tenures on the national youth and school advisory bodies of the anti school violence organization Sandy Hook Promise.
Cal High junior Jade Owens has been appointed for a second term on the Sandy Hook Promise National Youth Advisory Board, with counselor Patricia Mullins continuing in her role as a National School Advisory Committee member for a third year.
“As a member of the National Youth Advisory Board, I wanted to spread awareness,” Owens said in an announcement from the San Ramon Valley Unified School District on Feb. 29. “Not just about gun violence, but about any cause that was potentially harming people. I wanted to help others in any way possible.”
This goal was further motivated by the discovery of Students Against Violence Everywhere (SAVE) Promise Clubs, Owens said, a program organized and implemented by Sandy Hook Promise. Owens is also heading into her second year as a member of the Cal High club and is seeking to expand the program to local middle schools.
“I want people to know how to identify the signs of others who may harm others or themselves,” Owens said. “Because school should feel like a safe place for students, not a place of fear.”
Mullins has served as the club’s advisor for six years, in addition to her time on the national advisory board.
“We live in a world infused with violence and tragedy, yet hope lives,” Mullins said in an announcement from the district. “People like Jade and organizations like Sandy Hook Promise help us know that the quest to keep children safe and to make our world a better place is not lost. Together, with a united voice and programs to educate and empower, we can make a difference. It’s a promise.”
Sandy Hook Promise was founded and led by several family members of victims in the 2012 mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, where the organization continues to be based.
“There is no doubt that the aftermath of that devastating day in December left a deep scar on our nation and an unfathomable feeling of vulnerability for parents nationwide,” SRVUSD Superintendent John Malloy said in the district’s announcement. “I am proud to see this passion for leadership and desire to bring the Sandy Hook Promise and violence prevention initiatives to our district.”
