Students take to the street in Riverhead CAP ‘Say no to drugs’ march
Students, teachers and administrators of Pulaski Street Intermediate School in Riverhead filled the street Friday morning for the town’s CAP 38th annual ‘Say no to drugs’ march. This year’s march was led by Huntington native Kyle Palmieri of the New York Islanders, who was joined by mascots Sparky of the Islanders, the Blue Waves’ own Rippy, Riverhead Town Board members, Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney, and members of the Riverhead Board of Education and community.
The parade route looped around inner Riverhead, passing Roanoke Elementary School, Town Hall, local businesses and the courthouse — each with students and community members outside waving and encouraging the students as they went by.
A touching trend began and continued throughout the march where students jumped off the parade route momentarily to high-five and ask Riverhead Police Department officers to sign their event t-shirts, which read “drug free body” on the front in bright orange and “CAP, Pulaski Street pride,” on the back. Teachers, administrators, CAP staff, Riverhead Town Board members and officials in attendance all wore the same CAP shirts in a show of encouragement and solidarity of the drug free message.
At the close of the loop, students gathered on the school lawn to hear the chorus sing, Mr. Palmieri was given a proclamation by the Town Board and art awards were handed out. Officials such as Mr. Tierney, Riverhead CAP executive director Felicia Scocozza and senior CAP volunteers who lead programs in classes all year encouraged the fifth and sixth graders to follow the pillars of the program, such as make good decisions, how to set goals and how to meet them.
