Arcadia's Police officer John Bonomo is the latest addition to Arcadia's D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) program in elementary schools and G.R.E.A.T. (Gang Resistance Education and Training) program in middle schools.
Arcadia police officers Toni Caylor and Mike Cervantes introduced DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) to 5th graders in Arcadia in 1995. Those same students will be graduating from high school this month. Officers Brian Ortiz and John Bonomo are the current DARE officers.
Cal Poly Pomona hosted the 20th annual Science Olympiad for the Southern California region. Six San Gabriel Valley schools were among the 48 schools that participated. Arcadia High School student Alanna Mori competed.
The police department has a regular schedule of reorganizing with Officer Mike Cervantes returning to patrol duty after being a DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) officer. Filling the DARE position will be Officer Brian Ortiz. Officer Toni Caylor will be working with students as the YES (Youth and Educational Support) officer at Arcadia High School. Background information on each officer is provided.
Fifth graders pledge to avoid drugs as they graduate from the 17-week DARE program. Pictures and excerpts from essays of Galina Agayeve and Ingrid Pierre are printed.
The Police Department's Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) program narrowly escaped elimination at the previous Council funding. The program is under renewed scrutiny.
The Arcadia Police Dept. will receive $1,227,823 of a total of $12 million for its part in the largest drug bust in history at a Sylmar warehouse last September. The money will be used to step up drug enforcement, as well as for community programs in drug prevention and awareness. The undercover work was by officer Dean Caputo.
Former Arcadia High School baseball coach Mike Parisi was arrested June 8 on suspicion of cocaine possession and of being under the influence of the drug. The Arcadia school board dismissed him. He will begin a 2-week trial period in drug court on August 7, where he will undergo counseling, drug testing, and a 12-step program.
The Arcadia Unified School District's scores on the California Assessment Program went up in math for all grades this year, but down in reading in the 3rd and 6th grades, while 8th grade students showed an increase in reading. Other figures are also given in the article, as well as a chart of scores for each AUSD school on page A-2.
The City Council approved a drug and alcohol policy despite concerns voiced by police officers and fire fighters about the language used in the document concerning "designated standby or on-call status," normally used to describe around the clock periods.
A Photograph shows Camino Grove Elementary School's 4th and 5th grade students after walking a combined total of 2,900 miles to fight childhood obesity.
About 300 students in kindergarten through 5th grade will attend new schools in September because the school board unanimously approved changes in school attendance boundaries.
City Councilman, Gary Kovacic, is asking locals to write about memories of Arcadia. The collection of essays will be published in a book titled "Visions of Arcadia: A Centennial Anthology."