Diamond Bar Elementary Students Tour Middle, High School Programs

North Diamond Bar elementary students got a sneak peek at their future Wednesday afternoon.

Students from all of the Pomona Unified School District's "cluster 4" elementary schools — those in Diamond Bar and Phillips Ranch — were brought in for a tour of l (LMS) and school and saw a showcase of activities and programs at as well.

Lorbeer Principal Krystana Walks-Harper was busy coordinating the movement of hundreds of students Wednesday, organizing an hour-long tour for each elementary school group that showed the youngsters clubs and activities at Lorbeer and Diamond Ranch, a middle-school classroom in action, and a musical performance from the Lorbeer jazz band.

Band Director Gwendolyn Stokes said the Lorbeer musicians got more than enough time to work their chops during the morning's six consecutive performances, but the session provided time for visiting elementary students to ask about the band program and see and hear the jazz band first-hand.

School Counselor Julie Bates said adminstrators were also looking to highlight a new Pathways program in the district, which allows students to get instruction in specialized fields.

Diamond Ranch senior Robyn Rutherford said that the elementary students she spoke with were showing a lot of interest in the dance team and performing arts pathways programs.

"It's been easy to get them engaged," Rutherford said.

Rutherford, who attended Lorbeer in middle school, was also representing Diamond Ranch's English program alongside other students representing everything from the Associated Student Body club to the law and government pathway program.

Students from the law and government pathway at Diamond Ranch showed elementary students how to dust a glass jar for fingerprints and answered questions about the program.

Elementary students also explored the clubs and athletic programs available at Lorbeer, like the "Girl Talk" club that Counselor Julie Bates said she brought over to the school from her previous work at Garey High School in Pomona.

The club allows a forum for the middle schoolers to field questions about social life, academic life, and anything that is on students' minds.

Bates said that there is a common perception that problems of bullying and stress are worse outside of the district's Diamond Bar schools, but Bates's experience and Simons Middle School in Pomona and at Garey High School tell her otherwise.

"There is not any worse bullying at other schools than here," Bates said.

The group works in partnership with the Pomona-based non-profit Project Sister.

Bates said a formal club has not been set up yet for the boys, but that she does hold a weekly "sharing group" for male students as well.

Seventh-grader Diego Avila was on hand at the school's newspaper club to introduce elementary students to the LMS publication that Avila said is issued about three times a year to each student.

Avila had copies of the publication on hand for elementary students to browse — with reading about school events, projects, and feature pieces like the history of leprechauns, in light of St. Patrick's Day.

As a flock of Diamond Point students rushed down from the bleachers in the Lorbeer gymnasium, eighth grader Dillon Marquez was busy strumming his guitar at a table for the school's guitar club.

Marquez said that he is the informal leader of the club, but that there's no specific hierarchy in the organization.

And the goals of the guitar club are much the same as the goal of Wednesday's elementary orientation.

"Everyone gets together and we all learn," Miguel said. "Everyone teaches everyone else."