Pulaski Street Intermediate School students flooded the streets of downtown Riverhead this morning with messages against drugs and alcohol during the 37th annual Riverhead Community Awareness Program “Say NO To Drugs” march.
Fifth and sixth grade students marched down Roanoke Avenue, Second Street and Griffing Avenue this morning with handmade signs and banners, wearing shirts with a turquoise logo: “Drug Free Body.” They greeted students at Roanoke Avenue Elementary School cheering them on while they passed by.
Students and school staff were joined in the march by Riverhead Board of Education trustees, Town Board members, staff in the Suffolk County District Attorney’s office and the Riverhead Blue Waves mascot Rippie. The march was led by the NJROTC, police and the Riverhead Marching Band.
Students gathered on the lawn of Pulaski Street school after the march to hear from the event’s keynote speaker, women’s basketball legend and Hall of Famer Sue Wicks.
Wicks spoke about how substance abuse affected her personally. “Drugs, unfortunately, was inside of my life, inside of my family, that I got to meet it right in my face. It’s a very, very ugly thing,” she said. The people who used drugs would use it to have a moment of joy during sadness and hardship, and then immediately suffer after the drugs ran their course, she said.
“The people that I’m talking about are my sisters and a nephew. And they never developed that muscle of, I can make this better. I just have to keep working on it,” Wicks said. “Their answer was to take drugs.”
Wick’s sisters’ drug use destroyed the relationships between them. “They became different people, and that was so sad because they were my best friends,” she said. “But the drugs made them change their personalities, who they were, and they would get lost for so often and it was just a tragedy and…at a certain point it became such a habit there was no saving them.”
Both of her sisters recently died from drug overdoses, Wicks said.
“What I’m saying is not necessarily saying ‘no’ to something, but saying ‘yes’ to the challenges. Saying ‘yes’ that you’re strong enough. Yes, your potential is meaningful enough. Yes, the love that your parents have for you, that your teachers have for you, that your community has for you is strong enough to move you through any challenges,” Wicks said. “We don’t need to put those things in our body because our heart, our soul, our mind and our spirit will always nourish us and fix us if we allow it, if we exercise that muscle.”
Wicks also discussed her dream of being a professional basketball player. “I told my coach when I was in the ninth grade that I was going to be a professional basketball player. And my coach said, ‘Oh, I have some bad news for you: that doesn’t exist. Women’s professional basketball doesn’t exist. And I didn’t give up. I didn’t even skip a beat,” Wicks said. “I just raised my hand and said, it will be, because I’m dreaming this dream so hard that it has to come true. And I kept pushing for that dream.”
During the ceremony, Interim School Superintendent Cheryl Pedisich announced the winners of the annual CAP poster contest. This year’s theme was “Healthy Choices… Healthy Me.” The 5th grade winner was Ava Toussaint and the 6th grade winner was Tylynn Laird. Both students won a $100 Target gift card donated by Riverhead CAP.
“You have the tools to continue to make good and healthy choices and know that wherever you go, you will always have those that help to guide you,” Pedisich said. “Someone much wiser than I said, your choices show who you truly are, and I know that you will continue to make good choices. Please know that we believe in you and we ask that you continue to believe in yourself.”
Riverhead CAP and its executive director, Felicia Scocozza, were also presented certificates of appreciation by Riverhead Town Board members and by a staff member from Rep. Nick LaLota’s office.
Riverhead Community Awareness Program, a nonprofit organization, has provided drug and alcohol prevention, education, and counseling programs for the Riverhead Central School District since 1983. CAP is best known for its two-year prevention program serving fifth and sixth graders in Pulaski Street School, which is staffed by volunteers and student peer leaders in the Riverhead middle and high schools.
After the ceremony, students enjoyed a picnic lunch served by the Loyal Order of Moose Lodge #1742 and ice cream.
RiverheadLOCAL photos by Alek Lewis
The survival of local journalism depends on your support.
We are a small family-owned operation. You rely on us to stay informed, and we depend on you to make our work possible. Just a few dollars can help us continue to bring this important service to our community.
Support RiverheadLOCAL today.
