MISSION VIEJO : School to Start Exchange Program

Barcelona Hills Elementary School has been awarded a grant to establish Children United, a program that will allow its predominantly white student body to meet children from Orange County elementary schools attended mostly by ethnic minorities.

“Throughout Orange County, things are different than they are here in Mission Viejo, and the children need to know that,” Principal Suzette Lovely said. “And if our children have been exposed to any stereotypes or prejudices, well, it’s up to the school to help them get over that.”

Beginning this coming fall, children at the participating schools will write letters to each other, exchange videotapes and artwork, and in the spring, visit each other’s campuses. The program will end in June, 1992, with all of the children meeting for a day at Barcelona Hills.

The student population at Barcelona Hills is 93% white, 3% Latino, 3% Asian and 1% black. The 13 other schools that will participate in the program will be chosen in June, Lovely said.

“The goal of the program is that the children be exposed to cultures and ethnic groups different than their own,” Lovely said. “This will expand their awareness of various cultures and make them more understanding and receptive to those ethnic groups. What I am hoping is that students will be able to do is communicate with each other about different issues, what’s going on in the world, what’s going on in their schools.”

The program will get an $11,655 grant from the California Education Initiatives Fund.