History of the Society Of Students (S.O.S.)

The SOS program formally began in 2000-01 in Hiura’s fifth grade classroom and included approximately 30 fifth grade students. In the fall of 2001, the Annenberg Foundation funded the Boyle Height Learning Collaborative (BHLC) with Breed Street Elementary as a primary partner. As a partner in the BHLC, Breed Street was allocated funding to allow Hiura to leave the classroom to direct the SOS program full-time. In this capacity, Hiura began working to expand the program to all grade levels at Breed Street and to spread the program to other local elementary and middle schools.

Since 2001-02, the SOS program has grown to encompass nearly 300 active participants in grades one through five, out of a total student body of 717 in 2005-06, and has begun to expand to other neighborhood schools. Hiura and a team of teachers also developed a formal SOS curriculum and held an inaugural SOS training institute in August 2006.