COMPTON — With the consent of the Compton Unified School District, four high school campuses will soon participate in a workshop aimed at addressing race, culture and self-esteem.

Expected to be implemented next month at Centennial, Compton, Dominguez and Cesar Chavez high schools, the 18-hour, three-day program is known as Talking in Class.

Conducted by the California Conference for Equality and Justice (CCEJ), staff will gather 25-30 students at each campus “who are natural leaders — and by natural I mean those students that are A’ students as well as those who may be struggling but carry a lot of informal power on the campus,” said CCEJ Program Director Rene Castro. “What we try to do over the course of those three days is teach them communication and conflict-resolution skills. We also have lots of dialogue around issues of race and differences as a way to help students overcome bias, prejudice and things like that.”

The program attempts to reach five to 10 percent of the student body population on each campus, who will not only take what they learned back to their peers but serve as role models in behavior and conflict-resolution.

On day one, students will look at the different forms of oppression, such as skin prejudice, stereotyping and racial discrimination. This is then coupled with discussions on conflict and tools on how to mediate and navigate through it. In addition, vocabulary is given so that students are able to identify what they and others are experiencing.

Communication is also a key component. “We look at how communication sometimes can create conflict and how we all communicate different,” said CCEJ Program Director Marcos Lopez, who helps facilitate the program throughout South Los Angeles. “Then we break it down to how eye contact plays out different for different cultures, also tone and volume, and even looking at the different ways men and women communicate and how that plays out on campus and in general.”

Initially, students open up about their own identities, he said, and how it is either welcomed or not welcomed in their personal lives, on campus and within their community.

The opportunity to share experiences with peers helps them to find commonality and dialogue to the point where they feel “‘I’m not the only person with this problem or going through this situation and I’m more a part of the community than I am not,’” added Lopez. “And for individuals who share experiences that may be new or different, it creates an awareness among the group.”

It is also on this day that CCEJ instructors collaborate with school staff and administration on existing resources, such as clubs or student advisory boards and committees. These will be instrumental for students to continue to express themselves once the three days are over. If there is not a student outlet, the CCEJ will not only recommend one, but if granted assist in its creation.

On day two, instructors analyze the information received, put it in perspective for school staff and administration so that they are aware of what is happening on the campus, and conduct the necessary assessments.

On the final day, CCEJ asks students based on their experience over the first, two-and-a-half days what they want to do to address diversity or respect on their campuses. From this comes an action plan — generated with the collaboration of the students — that is presented to school staff and administration in hopes of implementing them on campus.

Teachers are trained to work with their students to promote change on the campus and are given the tools to decipher a situation when it occurs. They can do assessments and interviews, said Castro, but one thing that is highly recommended is a climate study that shows what is going on, where the potential risks are and how students are not only impacted by their campus but by their overall environment.

Once the three days are complete, results vary. According to Castro, short-term and long-term studies — conducted by them — show that after the program students feel a sense of empowerment, that they have control over what takes place on campus and in their personal lives. He added that they are more conscious of how their actions can have a damaging effect on themselves, their peers and their school.

“We don’t go into the school and say ‘this program is going to change your students and student relationships, you’re going to have all of this harmony and change the way you do business,’” said Lopez. “It is really how the school is going to embrace us coming on campus, what’s happening on the campus, and how ready they are for that kind of change.”

CUSD approved the $75,000 contract with CCEJ on Dec. 8, but “it’s in purchasing right now, we are waiting for the superintendent’s signature,” said Castro. “The board approved it … we are just waiting on that last piece.”

Unlike other school districts, said Castro, that have CCEJ staff on campus for three days before discontinuing the program, CUSD has set aside roughly 30 percent of the funding for follow-up and cross-collaboration between the four campuses.

The two entities have also discussed creating a district-wide youth summit, where youth would be trained to facilitate human relations dialogue with their peers.

The workshop was recently conducted at four high schools — Jordan High School, Wilson High School, Reid High School and PAAL Academy High School — in Long Beach. Though the specific dates for when CCEJ will visit the four CUSD campuses has not been released, Lopez believes it should be next month.