School Principal Will Fill New Anti-Gang Position

Ladera Vista Junior High School Principal Bob Taylor will take over a new position in the fall as coordinator of gang intervention programs at Nicolas Junior High.

Taylor will coordinate activities at Nicolas by Project CUFFS (Community United for Fullerton Safety), an umbrella group for local nonprofit and public agencies that received a $450,000 grant this year from the state Office of Criminal Justice Planning to work against gangs in the city.

Fullerton High School and La Vista Continuation High School are also sites for the program.

The Police Department, the district attorney’s office, the Boys and Girls Club, the county Human Relations Commission, Toughlove and other public and private agencies are participating in the project.

Police gang specialists talked during the year with parents and students. An Anaheim drama group performed plays about drug abuse and racism. Students went on retreats and joined in workshops. Toughlove representatives met with students to discuss teen and family issues.

The Fullerton School District created Taylor’s position last month to give Nicolas students a full-time coordinator for these programs.

“That’s going to be a real plus,” CUFFS gang prevention specialist Alec R. Esparza said of Taylor’s new position. “He has a real good rapport with kids.”

At Ladera Vista, Taylor created the Youth Expecting Success, or YES, program, to provide positive activities for students. More than half of the eighth-grade students this year worked on campus cleanups and visits to a nearby retirement home, he said.

“If you provide the focus, then they’ll show the positive things they can do,” Taylor said. “What’s always worked with kids is giving them responsibility and structure.”

Taylor said he will work to develop preventive programs at Nicolas Junior High.

“By the time you’ve tried to intervene or rehabilitate, people have such negative lifestyles that it’s very difficult to bring about any positive change,” he said.

Taylor said he will also work closely with CUFFS coordinators at Fullerton and La Vista high schools.

Esparza said the CUFFS grant is for three years but requires a reapplication and review annually. The grant is $450,000 each year.