The Simi Valley Unified School District has adopted a new program aimed at training teens to spread nonviolent attitudes to their classmates.

The program, called “Safe School Ambassadors,” took students from each of Simi’s three public high schools to meet with a representative from the program at Brandeis-Bardin Institute, a Jewish retreat used for educational and social meetings in the center of Simi Valley.

The two-day class focused on what instigates school violence and what high school youth can do to prevent it.

Students who attended the program were handpicked by their teachers and counselors based upon their apparent level of influence among their fellow peers, according to Sally Clapper, a Safe School Ambassadors trainer.

The groups of about 30 students shared poetry, stories and music on the subject of school violence. Students also put on skits that reenacted bullying situations to illustrate the harsh circumstances fellow classmates face every day.

“We can make better choices— given some different information— and sometimes it’s just one choice that can save a life,” Clapper said. “I’m really dedicated to doing whatever it takes to keep young people alive and free and really enjoying their life.”

Clapper spent six days with students and staff from Royal, Simi Valley and Santa Susana high schools, trying to motivate participants to take a stand against bullying and help create a friendlier and more open environment at their school.

“Nine out of 10 times somebody witnesses the bullying, but only one out of 10 times somebody does something about it,” Clapper said.

The nationwide program, which attracted the attention of the school district after the recent school shootings in Pennsylvania and Montreal, has the support of many faculty members.

“I think the program will work,” said Sharon Crane, a drama teacher at Simi High. “I think there are a lot of lonely kids out there who don’t have a support system anymore, and if they knew they could trust total strangers, that anybody can come up to them and be their friend, that will change their outlook on the way society is, and that will make a big difference.”

Safe School Ambassadors is a branch program of Community Matters, a nonprofit organization that attempts to identify with the needs of schools and communitybased youth programs in the United States and Canada. The program has been going strong since shortly after the 1999 Columbine High School tragedy in Colorado, during which two heavily armed students killed 12 peers and one teacher.

But Clapper said it’s not just the message of the program that attracted her to it—it’s how well it works.

“What interested me about the program was that (it) really identified that students are the ones who hold a lot of power to change the climates at their school . . . from a culture of ‘It’s cool to be cruel’ to ‘It’s fine to be kind,’” she said.

Student Nathan Mullett agreed. He said he wants to continue spreading the messages he learned from taking part in the program.

“As long as I’m attending Simi High, I will help prevent any violence I can,” the senior said.

More information on Community Matters and the Safe School Ambassadors program can be found at their official website, ComMatters.org.