As the pandemic progresses, so do many of the conversations about race that were sparked this summer after the killing of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man, by police. To support students regarding these racial tensions and the consequential stress, Bonita Vista High’s (BVH) Peer Counseling Program has opened a peer support group focusing on the subject. 

The idea for a new racial tensions support group began with Peer Counseling Program Coordinator, English 10 Accelerated and Theory of Knowledge teacher Kalie Espinoza, but was realized once Peer Counselor senior Joana Peralta wanted to become facilitators. Espinoza was inspired to establish the group after being in a similar support group led by one of her professors throughout the summer. 

“The peer counselor application mentioned how [Espinoza] was interested in creating the group and I commented on it and said I would like to be involved as well. During meetings, I expressed that I wanted this group to be created and we just started to include it in the list of support groups; I thank Ms. Espinoza for that. In terms of where it originated from, it was mostly the height of the Black Lives Matter movement that prompted it,” Peralta said.

In having these meetings every two weeks on Monday evenings at 7 p.m., Peralta and Espinoza hope to not only provide safe spaces for students, but to make an overall positive difference. 

“The goal is to, first of all, learn and share valuable information about ourselves that help us manage our own internal conflicts, but also to deal with the external conflicts that exist in our society. [We want] to give each other a place to relate to one another and share those struggles but also help each other channel those difficulties into action. In this group in particular I think it is really important,” Espinoza said. 

In addition to Peralta, seniors Alexys Lavis and Karolina Trujillo are also facilitators of the peer support group. Some of the subjects they touched on with instructional materials during their first official meeting on Monday, Sept. 28 were a privilege and systemic racism. According to Espinoza, she is leading most of the planning for these sessions. 

“With this group in particular I’m a little more hands-on because I want to be very careful with how it’s presented and what we do as a group because of the nature of the topic,” Espinoza said. “I think maybe part of that is my awareness that I’m a white teacher trying to run a racial tensions support group … there’s already inherently a factor to consider that I won’t ever be able to ever understand the students’ experiences in the way that I’d like to.”

Despite the fact that Espinoza is leading the racial tensions support group, she feels that there are other leaders within the BVH community advocating for social justice.

“Our school is really uniquely positioned to be an educative force on this topic. If you attended the Black Lives Matter rally that occurred in June, both Mr. [Don] Dumas and Mr. [Ray] Peterson spoke and I think there [was] maybe ten of our teachers and faculty there to support students,” Espinoza said. “[BVH principal Roman Del Rosario, Ed.D. is] very much in support of this [group]. He was the one who at our faculty meeting in June asked how we [can] actively make our school anti-racist, and I respect him so much for that because it shouldn’t be a revolutionary thing to do but it kind of is for a principal to start that conversation with his faculty.” 

Beyond the support group that Espinoza leads, BVH does not have any resources explicitly intended for students to manage their feelings on the nation’s current racial tension. Despite the lack of this space, Counselor Reynila Calderon-Magbuhat stated that none of her assigned students have reached out regarding that subject.

“As counselors, we are here to support students whether it is academically or socially [and] emotionally. Speaking for myself, I haven’t received any emails or requests from students at this time expressing concern or needing support regarding racial tensions, etc.  However, I have spoken to students who reached out to me about other issues but not those particular topics,” Calderon-Magbuhat said. 

Regarding resources or support from a district level, Assistant Superintendent of Equity, Culture and Support Services Joe Fulcher, Ed.D., was repeatedly contacted by the Crusader but did not make himself available to respond to our inquiries. 

In spite of her work as a Peer Counselor regarding racial tensions, Peralta feels that overall, BVH is not doing enough to support students regarding this issue.

“I don’t think I’ve seen anything the school has done regarding these racial tensions. I’m sure the emails of Wellness Wednesday can help in a way because these are real issues that people may be struggling about [and Wellness Wednesday messages] can help mentally but really, no,” Peralta said in response to whether BVH is doing enough. 

While the first meeting lacked both African American and male student attendance, Espinoza hopes to add more diversity to the peer support group. Peralta believes hearing the perspectives of people of different backgrounds is critical to making an improvement in the conversations about race. 

“Once we have more people [in the racial tensions support group], we can share more ideas and learn more about other people’s experiences and backgrounds. That will lead towards greater learning and understanding of other people’s experiences,” Peralta said. “With the research we’ve done regarding racial tensions, having the ability to emphasize and take into account another person’s perspective is vital in reducing these tensions as a whole.”