UNITY: Poly students return from the Building Bridges Youth Camp.
By Cameron Brewer, Staff Writer
Two Poly juniors have returned from the Building Bridges Youth Camp, which was hosted by the California Conference for Equality and Justice (CCEJ). It is hosted every two months, and gathers people from all over Southern California to ultimately create a stronger communities in the region. According to the CCEJ website, the camp helps to “build the authentic bonds necessary to create real alliances for justice in Southern California.” The camp has the students share and learn about the different social issues that people within ethnic cultures face.
The camp reached out to Poly through English teacher Adam Bicksler, who was allowed to choose which juniors get to go to the camp. “The juniors were selected on a first come first serve basis. I had ten openings, but sadly only two juniors elected to complete and return the application,” Bicksler said. He extended this opportunity to both Black Students Union (BSU) and Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan (MECHA), but both declined to send any at that time. He will extend that offer again another time, hoping to fill up more spots. The two juniors that went to the camp were Sereneia Nagum (11) and Laila Best (11).
According to Nagum, the camp was an eyeopener. One of the group activities involved discussing controversial societal problems. “They put us in really diverse groups and we had to learn everything about these people, so we could get a grip on the different social issues we face,” Nagum said.
Despite only sending two juniors to the camp, the opportunity was offered again. “Thanks to those two juniors, Poly has been invited back to the April Camp. We have been offered another 10 spots. I hope to send an entire delegation to represent Poly in the spring,” Bicksler said. If this camp sounds like an exciting opportunity, please see Mr. Bicksler in Room 651 for details.