Perhaps you’ve seen it on the school calendar.  Or maybe you have a friend who goes to mentoring meetings once a week.  There’s a new group on campus called A.O.C.  

What is A.O.C.?  A.O.C. is the Ambassadors Of Compassion.  A.O.C. is to help students with their self confidence, leadership, and to help with their future. The A.O.C. program is mostly for seventh and eighth graders. There are 6 groups on campus with 8-10 students in each group.  They meet once a week Monday-Thursday before or after school in one of the classrooms here at MacArthur.  This program started in October after former Assistant Principal  Mrs. Jamie Bates responded to a request from Ambassadors of Compassion organization.  The only schools that have this program in Santa Ana is Century High School and MacArthur, but other schools in other districts have this program as well.

“We were excited to bring this program because it would help the students with their futures,” said counselor Mrs. Laurie Tristan.

All the A.O.C. groups are building up to a community service project.  Each group has a different project to complete.  For example, on December 14 the Thursday group went to go clean up Huntington Beach.

Eighth-grader Nicholas Vargas has his group every Monday.  To Nicholas, A.O.C. is something to help kids recover, or to get better, or to get help to be better.  Their community service project will be to fundraise for the less fortunate, culminating in a party at the Jerome Center.

Eighth-grader Gabriel Rodriguez has his group on Thursday.  To him, A.O.C. is a group that helps students becomes leaders. There service project was going to Huntington Beach for a beach cleanup.  Gabriel enjoys the A.O.C. program because it’s very fun and it gives him a chance to interact with others and to do good in the world.