What’s Happening

Riverhead Community Awareness Program, Inc. (CAP) will sponsor its 31^st Annual Say NO to Drugs March on Friday, June 10, 2016. Riverhead Police Officer Byron Perez is this year’s honored guest and keynote speaker.

Officer Perez, the son of immigrants and a 2003 graduate of Riverhead High School, has realized his American dream by becoming Riverhead’s first full-time Hispanic police officer. As part of his mission to give back to the community that has given so much to him, in 2015 he became a volunteer for CAP’s Pulaski Street Elementary School Program. He teaches the monthly Life Skills lessons to a combined 5^th and 6^th grade class of students who are new to this country, in their native Spanish language.

“We felt so lucky to have Officer Perez as our CAP presenter this year,” said Erica Peralta, Pulaski ‘s bilingual teacher. “In everything that he did – his manner of speaking, his questions, his greetings and his casual conversations with the children – Officer Perez made it clear to them that he respects and values them and their families.  The children were so open to receiving the positive CAP messages from him because they genuinely feel that he believes in them and their potential to make good choices and be successful. Hearing an established community member speaking Spanish gave the children a sense of pride in their language and culture, even as they try so hard to assimilate to their new culture in the US.  Officer Perez is a positive role model for all of the students, but especially for the young boys who have lost their fathers to violence or are growing up without them.” Ms. Peralta added that after completing the CAP program with Officer Perez, ¾ of her class want to be police officers just like him.

Officer Perez is quite popular with all the students at Pulaski, who enjoy seeing the young officer in their school. “These kids are a lot smarter than we were at that age,” he observed. “They understand the negative influences out there. This program is awesome because it allows us to see how kids think and solve everyday life problems.” He enjoys trying to draw out the newer, shy students as well, and says that “seeing a kid try is the best thing you can see.” When he was a student at Pulaski Street Elementary School, Officer Perez participated in the CAP Program. He played varsity football while at Riverhead High School and calls his experience in the Riverhead Central School District “great.” He is proud to be able to share CAP’s message and role-play with students in their native language.

“Officer Perez has helped us address a major barrier by allowing us to provide our program to ALL of Riverhead’s students,” said Felicia Scocozza, CAP’s executive director. “Children who suddenly find themselves in a new country and a very different culture are at increased risk for anxiety, depression and substance abuse. The CAP Life Skills program provides them with the tools and resources to better cope with these significant changes. This not only benefits the individual students, but the school and community as well.” CAP also trains two bilingual middle school peer leaders who assist Officer Perez in the classroom.

Following the march, there will be a brief ceremony on the steps of Pulaski Street School in which Officer Perez will address the students and community along with NYS Senator Ken LaValle, Assemblyman Fred Thiele, and the Riverhead Town Board, among others. After the ceremony, the Loyal Order of Moose Lodge #1742 will once again generously serve a picnic lunch to all of the students.

Since 1983 Riverhead Community Awareness Program, Inc. (CAP), a nonprofit organization, has been providing drug and alcohol prevention, education and counseling programs for the Riverhead Central School District. CAP is best known for its two-year prevention program serving over 750 fifth and sixth graders in Pulaski Street School each year. The program, taught by community volunteers and student peer leaders, concludes with the annual Say NO to Drugs March. In 2013, CAP was awarded a five-year, $625,000 Drug-Free Communities Grant through the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) to increase both community coalition capacity and environmental (community-based) prevention strategies.

The 31^st Annual Say NO to Drugs March begins at 9:30 a.m. on Friday, June 10, 2016, in front of Pulaski Street School; heads south on Roanoke Avenue, then west on 2^nd Street, returning to Pulaski Street School via Griffing and Hallett avenues.