Parents protest school event celebrating America 250 over ties to TPUSA
May 13, 2026
A California junior high school is facing backlash from some parents over a school assembly celebrating America’s 250th anniversary that had ties to conservative organizations like Turning Point USA.
The Christian Post reports that Canyon Hills Junior High School in Chino Hills faced a protest last week after the school hosted the “History Rocks! Trail to Independence Tour.”
The program is an initiative of the U.S. Department of Education that selects one school per state and aims to help students deepen their understanding of America’s history and founding principles.
Roughly 25 parents and other members of the public who demonstrated outside the school on Friday, claimed that the assembly was too political and not appropriate for children, according to the Ontario, California-based Daily Bulletin.
Some of the protestors questioned the program’s connection to groups like TPUSA, the conservative youth organization co-founded by the late Charlie Kirk, who was assassinated last September.
Other critics said there should have been an option for parents to opt their child out.
Savannah Newhouse, the U.S. Department of Education press secretary, said in response to the protest that a “love of country and celebration of America’s history is not partisan.”
Newhouse told the Christian Post, “Engaging young students with fun games and questions like ‘When was our nation founded?’ and ‘Who primarily wrote the Declaration of Independence?’ isn’t indoctrination — it’s sparking excitement about the story of freedom and democracy.”
According to the Christian Post, the America 250 Civics Education Coalition is a national partnership comprising more than 50 organizations, including TPUSA, Hillsdale College and the America First Policy Institute.
Newhouse said, “Those who oppose these truths should appreciate the freedoms they enjoy and benefit from as they are able to protest and gather. If someone considers this partisan, it suggests they’re more influenced by left-wing narratives about the tour than by the truth of the tour itself.”
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