DISTRICT'S ANTI-DRUG PROGRAM GETS HELP FROM ABOVE

A Black Hawk Helicopter Snaps Students' Pictures From Overhead for
Red Ribbon Week.

MURRIETA - More than 600 Shivela Middle School students and staff
stood perfectly still Tuesday, with hands clasped behind their backs,
looking toward the sky.

They had one practice session to prepare for having their picture
taken by a National Guard UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter as it circled the campus.

"They did an excellent job even though they didn't know what to
expect," physical education teacher Tim Tahti said of the students.

The Black Hawk circled Murrieta Valley Unified School District
elementary and middle school campuses and took pictures of the
students' formations. When put together, they would spell "MVUSD Says
No to Drugs."

At Shivela, "DRUGS" was written in white on the field and the
students formed a circle with a line through it.

Eric Lahti, president of Murrieta Anti Drug Alcohol and Tobacco Abuse
Coalition, began coordinating the flyover in July as a way to link
schools throughout the district during Red Ribbon Week.

Red Ribbon Week is the largest U.S. initiative to educate students
about drug and alcohol abuse and preventing it.

Coordinated locally by parent-teacher organizations, the annual
weeklong campaign involving millions of U.S. students was spurred by
the 1985 death of Enrique "Kiki" Camarena, a drug-enforcement agent
kidnapped, tortured and killed by Mexican drug traffickers.

Local students are participating in lectures, assemblies and visits
from law enforcement.

The Shivela contingent, with red shirts and hats, waited on the field
for more than 30 minutes. The helicopter came close and turned toward
another school more than once.

"We don't know where he's going next. He could be coming here," Tahti
told the group as it waited.

When it finally approached, students cheered momentarily. Then the
only sound heard was the chopping of the helicopter's blades.

As it flew to the next school, they waved goodbye to the Black Hawk.