LetUp: Helping Others Find Peace

LetUp (Leaders Empowering Teens United For Peace) is a program to keep peace and connect all racial groups within the San Pedro High School community. This all began in February 2000 when gang members shot three San Pedro High students who were on their way home from playing basketball. Two boys were injured, but one, Perry Clark, was killed.

Today, San Pedro High does not have the racial problems it had in the past. “LetUp now helps prevent school problems like bullying, cyber bullying, and it gives a students the chance to have the support from others that they might not get at home,” says Carl Tank, the current Director of the LetUp program, “We meet every Friday at 8 am before classes start at 9. These kids enjoy coming so much that they are even willing to give up their chance to sleep in and come to school early.”

LetUp students strive to bring peace to the school community. One of the LetUp students was able to prevent a girl from killing herself in the bathroom on campus. The LetUp student saw what was happening and knew she had to take care of the situation and get the help the girl needed instead of walking away. Another LetUp student was able to prevent a CBI student (Community Based Instruction student who has special needs) from being bullied by a San Pedro High student. LetUp students are trained to see and understand a situation and act upon it correctly.

In the past, San Pedro High had more issues with racial grouping and gang violence than with bullying. The school struggled to end racial grouping because it was becoming so dominant. These groups caused violence throughout the school and fights would occur often. After the shooting in 2000, the violence and student separation became so unhealthy that Dr. Windy Warren, the crisis counselor at the time, was determined to reduce the violence. She started the LetUp program and handpicked students who were leaders of their social crowd and brought them together to a meeting each week to work out their differences. The main idea for this program was to have students looking out for one another both within their own group and within other social groups. They also were students who had influence on others within their group so if someone was doing something to harm another person, the LetUp member would be able to prevent it from happening. The LetUp program holds up to 25 students from freshman through senior year in high school.

LetUp has now spread to Wilmington High School and Carson High School as well, due to Dr. Warren efforts to established similar programs to help teenagers learn strategies to prevent bullying and other school-wide problems.

The LetUp program has a spiral affect on the students. They learn to get the help and support they personally need. From there they learn to tackle problems that affect all students. Finally, LetUp goes outside the walls of the school to help the San Pedro community by raising money for local programs. “We have raised money for Toberman Neighborhood Center and also the Beacon House,” Tank says. They raised money for the programs that needed the funding because they want everyone to live in a safer and more peaceful community.