The Pali High Justice League

By JENNIKA INGRAM | Reporter 

Many people think of the Justice League as a team of fictional superheroes appearing in DC Comics, but at Palisades Charter High School, it’s a league of student leaders who come together to organize Community Days for the student body.

“Justice League is a social justice group made up of the leadership of PCHS cultural clubs,” said Campus Unification Director Giovanni Stewart in a presentation during a Board of Trustees meeting on October 16. “The purpose of the group is to help hold our campus accountable for equity and inclusion by raising awareness in our campuses on cultural, social, local and national issues.”

Stewart, who rolled out the program, added that he wants to be able to unite social and cultural groups and bring them together. By bringing this justice group together, the students are able to have cultural proficiency when they are putting together events for the campus.

Community Days are social awareness events that take place on campus for a few minutes before and during the lunch break each quarter during the school year, with one day set aside for a survey.

“Mental Health Community Day was one of our best so far,” one student said about the first Community Day of the 2019-20 school year.

Approximately 13% of California high school students—same as the national average—experience one major depressive episode, according to a 2017 survey on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services website.

“There’s no other group on campus that makes me feel more accepted because there are so many kids from so many walks of life,” shared a Pali High student at the meeting.

“We have learned so much as people from so many groups on campus,” shared Isabel Gill, who has been on Justice League for two years, starting out her freshman year. “Everyone on Justice League has their own events but we attend others as well.”

Stewart said that he “can’t say enough positive stuff about this group of kids.”

“They represent all the different cultures that are on the campus,” he continued. “They show up every single week to a weekly meeting … they have been doing this for three years now.

“We have not perfected it, but we have done pretty well.”

The Justice League also organized the walkout for the environment and campus unification day.

In a survey that went out to PCHS staff, 90% of the 63 staff members who replied responded positively to promoting Community Days.