Katherine Pham and Gabriella Mariscal wanted to take storytelling at their school to the next level. Feeling inspired by the work on the Facebook Page Humans of New York, the two High School Seniors created Humans of Loara. With the support of their advisor Paul Chylinski, the students set out to improve their school the use of social media.
“We wanted to share the stories of our students here at Loara,” said Gabriella. “Once we had that idea, we took our idea to Mr. C and he was on board. He has truly been a big impact on our senior year and been a big support and making sure we do what we said we were going to do.”
“It’s crazy how many people we have covered,” said Katherine. To date the page is host to nearly 300 stories of students, staff and alumni.
The goal of the page is to bring you to a more in depth personal understanding of the people that make up Loara High School. People share their successes, struggles and experiences of their time at Loara. Some of the notable stories include a former gang member, Eddie, who went from a straight F student to a straight A student. “These stories give our students a little more inspiration and a little more hope,” says Gabriella.
“They have covered staff, students, alumni and more,” said Paul. “I’m so proud of what these two students accomplished and the impact their work has had on spreading positivity to our campus climate and culture. They posted two photos and two stories every day of the school year on top of their school work and activities, they are committed to their school.”
Loara is looking to expand their work online by establish a website later this year. In addition, they are in the process of adding a YouTube channel called “Voices of Loara.” The school has taken some of the posts and turned them into posters to be placed around campus. This is a model that other schools in the district are following to help spread kindness throughout the school district.
Celebrating Loara High School and their Humans of Loara Project on Instagram and Facebook.
Loara High School is located in Anaheim, CA and is part of the Anaheim Union School District.
