Students From Rival Areas Unite During Pen Pal Picnic

The students at Nottingham and Niemes elementary schools have almost everything in common. What separates them is a few blocks and a whole lot of fear.

“Sometimes the gangs are really scary,” said Eusbaldo Rodriguez, 9, a student at Niemes Elementary School in Artesia. “When we hear shots, my mom yells and we drop to the floor. I only feel safe in my room.”

For more than 25 years, two working-class Latino communities--one in Artesia and one in Norwalk--have been locked in a feud that has turned deadly, with more and more children being drawn into rival gangs.

The boundary between the two cities, 166th Street, was the line these children feared to cross.

But last week, youngsters from Nottingham school in Norwalk and Niemes school in Artesia laughed and shrieked, ate hot dogs and celebrated their friendship, defying the gang members who two years ago sprayed one of the schools with bullets.

With the help of school, city and community officials, about 500 elementary school children held a Picnic for Peace in Norwalk. It was the culmination of a two-year pen pal project between students who live in “foreign” lands a few blocks apart.

The neighborhoods are both comprised of small pastel bungalows and apartment buildings wedged between strip malls. Many of the students at the two schools speak Spanish as their native language and come from homes with single mothers, said Mary Martinez, president of the Niemes PTA. Nearly all are Latinos, some recently arrived from Mexico, others second- and third-generation Americans.

Two years ago, bilingual teacher Norma Williamson watched in horror from her window as young men fired shots at Nottingham school. Even though school had just let out, no one was hurt. And Williamson vowed to stop the violence before someone was injured.

She organized a letter-writing campaign between two third-grade classes at Nottingham and Niemes. This year, 16 classes volunteered to participate, with many more on the waiting list, Williamson said.

The teachers use the pen pal program to teach students about writing and civics with real-life experiences they understand. The students have written letters about their favorite foods (usually hamburgers), pets (mostly cats and dogs), and summer school (some actually want to go.)

“We’re not going to change the world,” said Sammy Leon, 12, from Nottingham. “But maybe we can change the city.”

Pen pals met for the third time this year at the picnic, where they played games, sang songs, drank sodas and gave speeches about peace, love and understanding. Each received a T-shirt and a photograph taken with a pen pal.

Most important, Williamson said, the students got to know one another as people rather than faceless rivals.

“My family says, ‘Don’t join gangs,’ ” said Salvador Cervantes, 10, from Nottingham.

“It’s too dangerous,” said his pen pal, Ricardo Rios.

“Your life will get messed up,” Salvador said.

“You won’t get a job,” Ricardo said. “And you’ll be homeless.”

“And you won’t get an education.”

“But we’ll. . . .” Ricardo started.

”. . . always be friends,” Salvador finished, punching Ricardo in the arm.

The neighborhood rivalry goes back 25 years or more, when residents of South Norwalk and North Artesia tried to protect their neighborhoods from crime, said Norwalk Councilman Mike Mendez, who grew up in the city. These protectors eventually evolved into gangs that rarely wandered far from their own turfs, he said.

But in the last decade, he said, the gangs started dealing drugs and wanted to expand their territories. Violence increased as they tried to keep competitors at bay.

Much conspires to divide the two communities. Children from Artesia attend school in the ABC Unified School District, but Norwalk children attend school in the Norwalk-La Mirada district. Separate divisions of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department patrol the two neighborhoods.

Artesia gang members “have their own little country,” said Sgt. Richard Madden, with the sheriff’s Norwalk station. The Artesia freeway cuts through the middle of the neighborhood, creating limited access in and out, he said. Gang members venture north from Artesia, cross 166th Street and enter Norwalk, where a Norwalk gang operates.

In the last two years, 12 people have died in Norwalk due to gang violence, said Kevin Gano, Norwalk’s safety director. In Artesia, six people have died in gang-related assaults in the same period, said Wes McBride, operations sergeant with the Sheriff’s Department.

One victim was 12 years old. A 16-year-old Norwalk boy’s body was found in the park next to Nottingham school. A 16-year-old Artesia gang member was shot and killed at a graduation party in Norwalk.

City, community and school officials responded to the violence by instituting gang intervention programs, graffiti abatement, increased law enforcement, and parks and school programs.

The schools’ philosophy, said teacher Williamson, sweeping her hand across the rainbow of posters at the peace picnic, is “plastered on the walls here.”

“We Can Make a Difference!”; “Perdonalo y Olvidalo, “Forgive and Forget”; “Mejores Amigos” (best friends), the posters read.

“We know gangs are stupid,” said Ruben Rivera, a sixth-grader at Nottingham. “It’s just for the kids who have hurt in them and are in trouble.”

The pen pal project already has made a difference in the neighborhood for the young kids. “It used to be kids were scared to walk down 166th Street,” said Martinez, whose daughter attends Neimes school and participated in the pen pal program last year. “Now I see them walking and waving to each other.”

The children also report a difference in attitudes. “Before, I thought Nottingham had a lot of gangs,” said Mark Gomez, a sixth-grader at Niemes. “But now I see it’s a school with dreams to make the world better, like us.”