Colton, CA—On Sep. 15, Rescue A Generation (R.A.G.), a non-profit organization from San Bernardino, came to Colton High on their “Level Up” tour to stage a leadership-based assembly and provide support for more than 30 at-risk freshman in need of guidance and counseling.

R.A.G. founder Jose Rodriguez said his mission for Rescue A Generation is “to help students change their lives like I want to see the world change.”

The assembly was held in the Whitmer Auditorium during third period and featured speeches, games, and performances. Afterwards, the R.A.G. team met with the identified students to begin relationship building. 

Students selected for the R.A.G. program were either chosen by the school and organization, or students were able to request to join.

To start the assembly, students were welcomed by the coordinators Rashad and Pablo while a DJ blasted music. To kick off the event, the coordinators had a few games in store. Some of the games included: a cup game, prop game, Nerf golf, and “guess the song lyric.” Winners were given a shirt.

In-between games a speaker would come to the stage and share their story. One of the speakers was Brandon Allen.

Allen shared his story about feeling left in the dark and struggling during his teenage years while having nobody to turn to. After coming out of the dark, Allen was able to do better for himself and is now R.A.G.’s program director.

“To me, sharing stories and being vulnerable is the key way to build relationships with people,” Allen said. “So I love the opportunity to connect and share stories and to build relationships.”

Another coordinator, and Colton alumni Pablo, also shared his story. 

Pablo described his teen years as always feeling “out of place like a puzzle.” It wasn’t until after hanging out in a senior citizen home with someone named Miss Macky he realized “I was that missing piece of the puzzle, because many of us don’t know puzzle pieces are so unique. Puzzle pieces are specifically made like each of us.”

After the speakers finished sharing, founder Rodriguez issued a challenge to the freshman audience.

He challenged the students to try “one degree more” everyday for the rest of the school year. “Would you make a commitment this year? Not to do everything right, not to be perfect, not to get all the stuff done, but to just try one degree more every single day?”

The assembly ended with rapper Austin Lanier (atrain) telling his story about how he went from almost giving up in life to eventually being capable of going on tour and meeting new people. Atrain then gave the freshman a small performance and shared a sneak peak of one of a forthcoming song.