TOGETHER, STUDENTS PLEDGE TO STAY DRUG-FREE

Students at Jurupa Vista Elementary School celebrated Red Ribbon week
by participating in an outdoor event that signified the banding of
students to keep the school drug free.

Teachers escorted the students in groups to the field where they held
a long red ribbon on Oct. 17.

"The kids were very excited because it was something new for them,"
said Karina Salinas, vice president of the Jurupa Vista Elementary
School PTA, who coordinated the event.

Normally the students recite a pledge to remain drug-free within each
class but this year they said it together as a school, Salinas said.

Red Ribbon week is a multiple-day celebration that began as an event
to commemorate the life of Enrique S. Camarena, a narcotics officer
in the 1980s who was close to uncovering a multi-billion-dollar drug
pipeline in Mexico when he was kidnapped and killed.

Schools celebrate this week annually in an attempt to show
intolerance for drugs in our schools and communities, according to
the Drug Enforcement Administration's website.

The school has approximately 690 students and 30 teachers. Students
from kindergarten to sixth grade were given an agenda for Red Ribbon
Week, a handout about its history and a copy of the pledge to take to
their parents.

The children had to bring the pledge back signed by their parents,
and they also signed a pledge themselves, Salinas said.

"We tied the ends of the red ribbon once all the children were on the
field," Salinas said. "As soon as the red circle was completed, we
started the pledge."

Fourth-grade teacher Delores McFarland and sixth-grade teacher Sandi
Stausser lead the oath while the children simultaneously pledged to
remain drug-free. They also promised to take a stand within their
families and communities against alcohol and drug abuse, said school
principal Joseph Adeyemo.

The outdoor event ended with a speech by Adeyemo that was centered on
the importance of living a drug-free life.

Adeyemo said in a phone interview that the youth of today will be the
leaders of tomorrow and it is crucial that they don't use drugs if
they plan to lead this nation.

"It was important that I spoke to them," Adeyemo said. "It is very
important that we get it through our students that drugs have no
place in our school or in our society."