The statistic struck a sobering, if not shocking, chord: Drug overdoses, soaring to new heights by abuse of heroin and prescription painkillers, aka opioids, killed 50,000 people in the United States in 2015, the most ever, a grim toll that exceeded the number of deaths in car crashes.
Norm Weitzel, a paramedic and the education training manager with Medic Ambulance, alluded to the data in general and more simple terms, since his audience ranged in age from roughly 11 to 13, some 150 fifth- to eighth-grade students at Notre Dame School in Vacaville.
The 2:15 p.m. Monday assembly under the outdoor pavilion at the Marshall Road campus was part of the parochial school’s observance of Red Ribbon Week, which attempts to bring awareness to American students about the perils and risks of alcohol, drugs, tobacco and violence. The nationwide effort continues to Oct. 31, Halloween.
Principal Susan Kealy and her staff — as the school has done in recent years past to educate its 330 students in grades TK-8 — hosted police officers and their vehicles from several Solano County cities, the California Highway Patrol, including a CHP helicopter and crew, and a Medic Ambulance.
And since October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, the assembly (K-4 students gathered at 1:30 p.m. for the same presentation), the event also included the pink fire truck Christine and a pink retired police vehicle — both covered with thousands of signatures in black ink — from Pink Heals of Solano, the local chapter of the Guardians of the Ribbon, a nonprofit that helps men, women and children fight cancer.
By 1:45 p.m., the event was well underway, with some 150 of the younger students clearly excited by the sharp sounds and lights pulsing from the public safety vehicles, moving in groups of four or five from station to station, to the grassy field where the CHP copter had landed moments earlier, or to the Vallejo police car that contained Officer Chase, a 4-year-old Belgian Malinois, a highly popular attraction.
One of each assembly highlights occurred when Sgt. Bob Knight showed off the dog’s skills at searching for illegal drugs.
Suzanne Fiori, one of Kealy’s staff members who helped to organize the afternoon activities, believed the students learned a basic lesson, that “law enforcement is helping the community.” Helping Kealy to organize the day’s gatherings, besides Fiori, were Meghann Bauer, Kate Smith, Karen Mraz and Emily Case.
A trio of third-grade girls, each 8 years old and clad primarily in a green school uniform, paused for a visitor and weighed in on the action on the paved playground and the outer field.
Sabrina Brooks said she came to know that people survive breast cancer; Madison Chapman prayed for first responders; and Elyse Howard heard the messages “to stay away from drugs,” that “men can also get breast cancer,” and that meeting Chase was a thrill.
Standing nearby, sweating slightly on a day when temperatures climbed well in the 80s, Vacaville Police Mark Ferreira said the children posed “easy questions,” among them “What do you do?” He offered his protective vests to anyone willing to try them on. Several students did and discovered they were not overly heavy but were, indeed, bulky.
At the CHP helicopter, pilot Mike McCauley told some 30 students, seated attentively on the grass, that a version of the chopper had once landed on Mount Everest in Nepal, the highest mountain in the world and that it travels at 180 mph.
Third-grader Black Paul said he was mesmerized by McCauley’s story about chasing a carjacker.
Paramedic Jared Boothe, who rides with McCauley out of the Golden Gate Division of the CHP’s Air Operations, said students wondered how they rescued people.
When the older students assembled for opening remarks under the welcome shade of the pavilion, Knight noted the difference between illegal and legal prescription drugs, but cautioned students, if they should see pills in bottles at home, “to leave them alone,” as their effects are unknown and potentially harmful to children.
As Notre Dame students enter high school, he added, “You’re going to meet people who tell you that drugs aren’t so bad.”
But their use “tends to ruin lives and families,” Knight said.
CHP officer Tony Blencove said, “We’re police officers on the highways.”
Like Knight, he noted the changes that will come with high school life.
“You’ll go to parties” and be offered drugs, said Blencove, adding, raising his hands, palms open, signaling “no,” “Just say I’m good. No thank you.”
Weitzel, after offering the data about drug overdose deaths, said staying drug-free is a way to “respect yourself and respect your body.”
Later, standing at the back of the pink fire truck, Magdalyn Taylor, 12, a seventh-grader, wrote a message as her mother, Erica Taylor, a breast cancer survivor, looked on.
Magdalyn said writing on the truck, perhaps expressing thanks or a prayer, as thousands of other have done, made her happy.
“It’s a heartfelt moment,” she said afterward.
During Red Ribbon Week, young people are encouraged to pledge to a drug-free life. Educational activities, such as the ones at Notre Dame School, emphasize illegal drug use prevention and allow communities to come together to take a stand against drugs and the trafficking of drugs.
Begun in 1985, Red Ribbon Week also commemorates the death of DEA Special Agent Enrique “Kiki” Camarena, who was murdered while investigating drug traffickers in Mexico.
