On February 24, 2026, the third annual Social Justice Day highlighted issues in our community voiced by students. Composed of soapbox speeches, slam poetry, performing arts, and a town hall meeting, students got to learn about pressing issues in today’s society and how to combat them.
“Overall, it was a very successful event,” said principal Jennifer Brown. “Almost all of the Social Justice Day is the brainchild of students who, for their cap project or just out of interest, have gone to teachers and said, ‘Hey, I really want this opportunity.’”
The foundation and inspiration for Social Justice Day is rooted in the globally recognized framework of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The 17 goals, adopted by all UN Member States in 2015, address issues such as gender equality, poverty, sustainable development, education, energy, justice, and food and water scarcity. These ever-present topics were brought into the limelight by Cypress High students who wanted to make a difference in our world.
Junior Bao Pham, for instance, shared valuable information about her club, Meded Connect. “It’s a medical education club, and we share medical opportunities and resources.” Like many, Pham saw an issue right within our community and used this opportunity presented by Social Justice Day to provide help. Specifically, she saw that many people wanted to get into the medical field, but had no idea where they could start. “We saw that a lot of students at our school didn’t really know where to go, and we just wanted to help them out and share medical opportunities, education and resources.” The Meded Connect club has fun hands-on activities and gives out food at most meetings.
Sophomores Lorenzo Porquirino, Michael Connell, and Ethan Shimogawa were ecstatic to present their presentation on government-funded science. Connell said, “All three of us love science. It’s our favorite subject, and we don’t like that the government is not funding it.” The budget proposed by the current Trump administration sees major budget cuts to not only scientific, but medical research as well. Shimogawa said, “We would just like to spread awareness of the current defunding of science within the US government, but also just that science is not just confined to the realms of space and deep sea stuff. Science is everywhere.”
As with every year, there’s always room for improvement. Ms. Daphne True, involved in the planning of the event, explains. “As someone on the social justice state team, I’m looking forward to even improving the different aspects of it,” she comments. “We’ve gotten a lot of constructive criticism from different members of the staff and hope to get some from students as well to make it even better for students in the coming year.”
“There’s always little tweaks that need to happen,” said Brown. “One of the things that we’re very good at is after an event, we do a survey of staff, community members, and then we have a team that does a debrief and we look at, okay, what went well, what might need to be tweaked, what might we need to eliminate?”
Overall, Social Justice Day is a great experience! True comments, “I think it’s a great way to participate and have your work showcased in front of different members of our school community, and I think civic
learning is one of the best ways to see how education can be relevant to the real world.”
Brown comments, “I will remind students always, you get out of something what you put into it.” She explains that going into Social Justice Day with an open mind is best. “We hoped that they could find joy in learning from others and participating and help supporting others in their passions.”
