Action Team Rallies Students in Sylmar : Drugs: Neighborhood, school and business organizers have launched a yearlong effort to mobilize the community in a war against narcotics activity.

Educators, business leaders and community activists led 900 elementary school students in a rally against drugs Thursday in Sylmar, where law enforcement authorities seized a world record amount of cocaine last month.

Organizers of the rally at Sylmar School said the event was the beginning of a yearlong effort to battle drug activity that they said threatens to stigmatize the community.

“I think it was an insult to Sylmar that they did that,” sixth-grader Tim Griffin, 11, said of the drug dealers’ use of a warehouse where 21 tons of cocaine and $12.2 million in cash were seized Sept. 28.

Sylmar School Principal Yvonne Chan organized the rally and formed an anti-drug group called the Sylmar Community Action Team, made up of more than 80 educators, business and community leaders, politicians and police officials. Chan said she acted in response to parents’ concerns about the school’s drug education efforts in light of the drug seizure.

“As a result of the drug bust, they said: ‘What kind of community is this?’ ” Chan said.

The Action Team met Thursday and planned future measures, including a drug awareness fair and drug education efforts for parents and teachers.

Los Angeles City Councilman Ernani Bernardi, who represents the area, said the rally and the yearlong plan by the Action Team show that fast-growing Sylmar is capable of organizing to fight drugs.

“It’s a fact that the drug bust was made here,” Bernardi said. “Some people may look at it as not a compliment to the community . . . but this is a live community.”

The Action Team began work Thursday with the schoolchildren, who showed posters, collages and displays that they had made about the dangers of drugs. Several displays included references to last month’s massive drug seizure; one was a cardboard model of a jail containing mug shots of four suspects in the case, cut from a newspaper.

Los Angeles Police Officer Mike Patriquin gently handcuffed two youngsters to demonstrate to the students how humiliating it is to be arrested.

Chan said the drug seizure has been a popular topic of conversation among students in the past two weeks.

“I want drugs to stay out of our community,” said fourth-grader Lucia Perales, 9. “Kids are getting drugs from people, and it’s hurting them.”