Youths Hope to Someday Lead With an ‘All Together Now . . .’

While most kids are spending the final weeks of their summer vacation at the beach or in front of the television, 50 Orange County students are at Foothill High School in Santa Ana this week to learn about tolerance and leadership.

“It’s tough to be in high school,” said participant Eugene Chen, 16, a junior at Brea Olinda High School. “Everyone is so narrow-minded, forming cliques. I want to overcome that and teach others how to open their eyes too.”

Organizers of the second Orange County Human Relations Leadership Institute hope to teach youngsters 11 through 18 years old how to be effective leaders in a multicultural society.

The program was designed to give participants organizational skills and strategies that they can take back to their schools and communities, said Iliana Clemente, program coordinator. Through discussions, dramatic presentations and games, students are asked to solve problems and cull lessons that can give them a better understanding of people of different cultures, she said.

“These kids are amazing because they’re willing to share and engage in conversation,” said Francisco Marmolejo, a history instructor at Irvine Valley College and longtime member of the Human Relations Commission. “These are the people who will shape Orange County. There’s no better way to help these kids recognize their own potential.”

Marmolejo took an unorthodox approach Wednesday morning during his training session. The youngsters were divided into eight groups and given different instructions to play what they were told was the same card game. At intervals, players were ordered to move to different groups and play in complete silence, using only nonverbal forms of communication.

The confusion that ensued was meant to teach a lesson about assimilation, Marmolejo said.

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Low groans, raised eyebrows, clenched fists, frantic arm-waving and exasperated hair-pulling illustrated the frustration that people feel when they are unable to communicate because of language barriers, he said. And the urge to back down, do nothing or simply conform to new rules--even though they aren’t the ones you learned initially--illustrates the most difficult facet of assimilation.

“Do you understand what you have to give up in order to assimilate, and who bears the burden of assimilation?” Marmolejo asked. “The individual does.”

The program is sponsored by Leigh Steinberg, the sports agent about whom the hit movie “Jerry Maguire” was written. He is a longtime supporter of the Human Relations Commission, Clemente said.

Students applied to participate and were selected based on letters of recommendation and personal statements of their commitment to promoting human relations, she said.

“We didn’t select these kids based on their grade-point average. We wanted them to represent a broad spectrum, from North and South County. But our selection was mostly based on their willingness to continue building human relations in their communities,” Clemente said.