Students take to Riverhead streets for Say NO to Drugs March
Pulaski Street School students paraded through town Friday morning during the Riverhead Community Awareness Program’s 39th annual Say NO to Drugs March — before returning to the school steps for a message about purpose, peer pressure and healthy choices.
Leading the one-mile march was the Rev. Cynthia A. Liggon, installed this year as the first female senior pastor of the century-old First Baptist Church of Riverhead.
The theme of this year’s march — which also included local officials and Riverhead Central School District Superintendent Robert Hagan — was “Healthy Choices Help Me Reach My Goals.”
Pulaski Street School sixth-grader Brynn Welch (left) and fifth-grader Diana Camacho Vasquez, joined by Riverhead Superintendent Robert Hagan, show off the winning work in this year’s art contest. (Credit: Nick Mongiovi)
The Rev. Liggon, a Riverhead native and former Pulaski Street School student, emphasized the importance of making decisions that reflect who students are, rather than giving in to pressure from others.
“Being fully alive is all about you,” she told the students. “It’s the work you do, for you. It’s the decisions you make about how you will be present in this world even in fifth and sixth [grade] and as you go on to middle school and high school. Being fully alive. Everyday that you choose to be you, not who someone else wants you to be. Being fully alive means that your purpose, your potential is more important than the pressure of your peers.”
The event also included recognition for the winners of the 2026 Pulaski Street School art contest: sixth-grader Brynn Welch and fifth-grader Diana Camacho Vasquez.
Photos by Nick Mongiovi
