Marina High trains 48 student leaders in the Plus Program

John Vanderburgh, developer of the PLUS program to create safe school environments, kicked off Monday a two-day training for Marina High students. Forty-eight students were chosen by teachers and other students as the "natural influencers," those who have pull among their peers. Over the training, they'll be taught strategies that will result in creating a more inclusive campus. As you'll see in this video, Vanderburgh is a very engaging speaker, the students seemed completely hooked in his message. What he said resonated with them: when young people are facing pressures, their peers can help develop connections with each other that will help ease their burdens. The PLUS training is being paid for with a grant Marina, Seaside and Monterey high schools received last year from the California Department of Education. Vanderburgh said he's taken his program all over the country and that it's shown great results. I look forward to visiting Marina High in a few months and see what effect it's had. Stay tuned.