Sequoia Charter School’s students and staff united under brightly-colored orange attire Wednesday to send message of hope, support, and unity against bullying on Unity Day.

Sequoia joined schools and communities across the country to support the theme, “Together against bullying – united for kindness, acceptance, and inclusion,” as students and staff participated in events designed to educate, inspire, and involve students to prevent bullying and help develop a positive and safe school environment.

“Today was a uniquely powerful day for our campus as our students and staff united to demonstrate that bullying is a topic of relevance and can be addressed through awareness, acceptance, friendship, and our shared voice,” said Sequoia School Psychologist, Shazia Shah.

The day began with a presentation from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Stop Hate and Respect Everyone Tolerance program. Deputy Chatman spoke to an engaged audience of students about prejudice, respect for individual differences, and tolerance of others.

Students actively discussed their role in promoting harmony among individuals from diverse backgrounds in an effort to combat hate crimes and encourage positive leadership roles amongst the campus’ youth.

The day continued with Project Connect in which students participated in creating a campus-wide chain of links to show their united commitment to stop bullying.

In addition, students celebrated their friendships and support for those needing encouragement through written positive affirmations posted to the Unity Day “Positivity Wall.”

The color orange pervaded the Sequoia campus on t-shirts, nail polish, bracelets, and face paint, presenting a symbol of strength and resilience against bullying.