LEVITTOWN LEADING FIGHT AGAINST DRUGS

IF THERE'S STRENGTH in unity, then March 25's third annual Walk
Against Drugs by Levittown students, their parents and school district
representatives should prove a smashing success.

For the students, the Sunday walk supporting the Levittown Educators
Against Drugs (LEAD) program will climax a week of in-school activity.
During this time, they were taught about the danger of drugs and
learned it's cool to say no. They also got the chance to express their
own thoughts by decorating hallways and classrooms with posters and
signs. One favorite: "It's Okay to Walk Away-Just Say 'No.'"

Between 400 and 500 people are expected to take part in the walk,
beginning at 10:35 a.m. from the Levittown Memorial Education Center
on Abbey Lane. It will be led by grand marshals Jacqueline Seeman, the
district's director of pupil services, and John Allen, retired
director of physical education and athletics. Both were on the
steering committee that formed the original event 10 years ago as a
competitive run for all Long Islanders.

"The members of the steering committee [later] realized that with so
many folks coming from all over, the purpose for the event got a
little lost," Allen said. "Now, it's so much more of a family event
and that makes it easier to get the message out."

"There's more of a community effort now," Seeman added. "Friends are
telling friends and neighbors tell neighbors. It promotes a lot of
good will."

Following the walk-which will go north on Gardners Avenue, east on
Hempstead Turnpike to Ranch Road and south back to the Memorial
Education Center-everyone participating will be invited to a fair at
the Memorial gymnasium from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Youngsters will be able
to shoot hoops, pretend they're fishing and take part in a "Who Wants
to Be a Millionaire" game. There also will be booths with cotton candy
and popcorn. And, lest the students forget the purpose of the day, the
gymnasium will be decorated with displays promoting drug prevention.

"This [the event] shows that Levittown is united as a community and
that drug users are not welcome," said Ryan Roman, a fifth-grader at
Abbey Lane Elementary and the school's co-president. Ryan has been
participating in the LEAD Walk and competitive run for five years and
will be in charge of the popcorn booth at the fair.

Fellow fifth-grader Ilana Strongin, who will participate in the walk
for the first time, was motivated by the drug-related death of her
friend's cousin. "I heard on the news that 3,000 kids become addicted
to drugs every day," she said. "This demonstrated how strongly we feel
that drugs will only harm you. I think it will be fun to be part of
the walk. It will show we have spirit and really want to take action
to fight against drugs." Ilana is working on a banner to carry during
the walk.

This will be the second year that Christina Pustulka, an eighth-grader
at Jonas E. Salk Middle School, will take part. "It was a lot of fun,"
she said of last's year's walk. "I think kids got the message, because
a lot who were seventh-graders last year are going again this year."

Gen. Douglas MacArthur High School 12th-graders Victoria Gargiso and
Karen Hoffman also are gung-ho on the LEAD program. "Students have the
opportunity to stand side by side with adults who care for them,"
Gargiso said. Hoffman added, "Kids who participate in the walk are
making their own statement. They present themselves as a group,
demonstrating that they are against drugs, alcohol and tobacco use."

Drug and alcohol counselor Jackie Levine of MacArthur High School is
another advocate of the program. "On a day-to-day, one-to-one basis,
we address the issues that LEAD represents," she said. "It isn't
enough to say that students know schools are against drugs, alcohol
and tobacco use. LEAD gives us the opportunity to go public... to
counter the negative messages students receive from their teen idols."

And Linda Anthony, a social worker at Salk Middle School, believes
LEAD serves as a preventive effort to supplement the year-round work
of Levittown's schools in battling drugs. "In this day and age, the
efforts of a school are not enough to protect children from drugs,"
she said. "Family involvement is not enough. It's the participation of
the community and its show of support that is needed to help children
become healthy, vital contributors to society."