The California Department of Education hosted the first of a series of virtual webinars Oct. 26 on school safety, with Turlock Unified School District officials and Pitman students sharing their efforts to increase awareness about safety issues.

 Marie Russell, Turlock Unified director of communications, family engagement and outreach, shared about the district’s partnership with the Sandy Hook Promise. Russell was joined by Pitman High School’s SAVE Promise Club advisor Tanya White and club members, who shared how they implemented the “Start with Hello” and “Say Something” programs on their campus.

Students Against Violence Everywhere (SAVE) Promise Club is the youth leadership initiative of Sandy Hook Promise. Led by the Sandy Hook Promise’s Youth Advisory Board, the clubs aim to empower young leaders to take an active role in increasing school safety and preventing different forms of violence in schools and communities. 

Start with Hello is a themed week hosted by the campus clubs that features interactive activities that encourage students to be more socially inclusive and connected to each other to prevent social isolation. Meanwhile, the Sandy Hook Promise’s Say Something campaign teaches middle and high school students to recognize the warning signs of someone at-risk of hurting themselves or others and how to say something to a trusted adult to get help. The district has also implemented the STOPit application, which allows individuals to anonymously report safety, misconduct, or compliance concerns to help others or connect with trained crisis counselors from the Crisis Text Line to help themselves.

Dr. Tom Herman, education administrator for the School Health and Safety Office at the California Department of Education, said that since 2019, 48,000 students from 95 schools in California have participated in the Start with Hello program. Meanwhile, 55,000 students from 74 schools have been trained in the Say Something program. 

Payton Rowell serves as the president of Pitman’s SAVE Promise club and spoke about the impact of hosting a convention alongside students from TUSD elementary and junior high schools.

“Last year was the first year that SAVE Promise was introduced to our school,” she said. “It's very empowering as a junior last year to see elementary, middle school and high school kids come together and collaborate…”

Rowell also spoke about the effectiveness of encouraging students to use the STOPit app, sharing that she has seen it stop violent incidents from taking place on campus.

“Students have the power to help and end harmful and inappropriate behaviors they see online through social media and on campus. This app has stopped fights, substance abuse, bullying and so much more. It’s a way for us as students to feel empowered and say something on our campus.”

Kaitlyn Mundello shared similar sentiments.

“Some differences I have seen on campus is that this club provides a safe environment for people to express how they feel,” she said. “It allows victims of violence to feel support and feel that they have a community backing them up. In addition, I feel that the club limits the amount of hate that people have because it creates better bonds between students.”

Mia Ngo, secretary of Pitman’s SAVE Promise believes that the activities from the Start with Hello and Say Something programs hosted by their club has had a huge impact on her life and have taught her and her peers to be better people.

“Hearing from them is empowering to me to listen to all of their hard work,” said White. “This is coming from them. I'm here to support them. This is a student led program. They are doing the work on campus and we're seeing a difference with staff and students and we're hearing about it.”

“These programs are effectively improving school climate in the schools in which they are implemented, and we're seeing the results of that,” Herman added. “They're guided by principles that school violence is preventable through improved school climate and mental health trainings and that students play a critical role in creating a positive school climate and addressing mental wellness and that all school staff need to be trained to recognize warning signs and how to intervene when appropriate, and to refer students who are experiencing a difficulties.”
For more information on national SAVE Promise clubs, head to www.sandyhookpromise.org/our-programs/save-promise-club.