School News: An occasional look at South Bay classroom news : Students Offer Their Tips for a Safe Halloween

HALLOWEEN TIPSTERS: A few witches, a pirate, a clown and a very tall troll entertained 200 fourth- and fifth-graders this week at Williams Elementary School in Hawthorne as a warm-up to a trick-or-treat safety program presented by fellow students.

Twenty students donned costumes for the Halloween show, which teachers Nonie Smith and John Gary organized last month.

After a revue of scary songs, student council members gave the students trick-or-treat tips.

“Don’t wear a dark costume, or you might get run over by a car,” advised one student. Another warned about examining candy before eating it. “I don’t want you to die,” he said.

The 9- and 10-year-olds also were told not to wear costumes that cover the nose, eyes, or mouth and to trick-or-treat only in familiar areas--and with a flashlight.

But the most important thing, they said, is to have fun.

Debika Sett, 10, wrote the script for the trick-or-treat safety presentation in two days, and also directed the cast.

“I think they liked the funny parts,” she said of the students’ reaction to the play. “You can’t just make it dull, you have it make it funny.”

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RED RIBBON: Students across the state this week participated in anti-drug programs as part of “Red Ribbon Week.”

In the Hawthorne School District, for instance, elementary and middle-school students made posters with anti-drug and anti-alcohol messages and heard police officers explain the dangers of substance abuse.

Students signed a pledge, mailed to Gov. Pete Wilson, promising not to use tobacco or any other kind of drug. They also tied little red ribbons to the chain-link fences of the district’s nine schools.

For the last seven years, the nonprofit organization Californians for Drug-Free Youth has sponsored the anti-drug “Red Ribbon Week” campaign. The program began after the murder of Drug Enforcement Administration Agent Enrique Camarena in 1985.

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FAT LUNCHES: Nearly all federally funded school lunches exceed the government’s dietary guidelines for fat and salt, according to a U.S. Department of Agriculture report released Monday.

Researchers found that out of the 545 schools they surveyed, the average percentage of calories from saturated fats in lunches was 15%. Government dietary guidelines specify that saturated fats should not account for more than 10% of the calories.

The sodium content of the food was almost twice the recommended amount.

The USDA’s school lunch program serves meals to nearly 25 million children each day.

Overall, the study reported that 99% of the schools participating in the study served meals in which 38% of the calories come from fat. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans, which were issued by the USDA and the Department of Health and Human Services in 1990, recommend that Americans 2 years of age or older limit fat to 30% of calories. Studies show that five of six youngsters 6 to 19 have diets that exceed the recommended limit on fat.