Somber Events at Schools Mark Drug Awareness Week

Only the giggling bothered student body President Maritza Salazar as the grim reaper claimed a fellow La Mirada High School student during a second period trigonometry class Wednesday.

Evidently, she said, Efran Caldera’s classmates didn’t understand what it meant to die from smoking crack cocaine.

“You guys need to remember that this is very serious,” Salazar told the class. “Now we’ll never see Efran again.”

At the risk of spoiling the ruse, Efran’s friends should know that he does not smoke crack, and that he and nearly 200 other students who symbolically lost their lives to drugs and alcohol Wednesday are scheduled to rejoin the living Friday afternoon during a ceremony to cap Red Ribbon Week, an annual drug awareness observance.

But until then, Salazar and other student officers are asking that no one speak to the “victims” who were randomly chosen to wear signs indicating that they have died from drunk driving, HIV-infected needles and other causes related to drugs and alcohol.

Though other schools are hosting Red Ribbon Week commemorations, the message carries a special meaning at La Mirada: A recent graduate died from alcohol poisoning after a party earlier this school year.

“We want everyone to know that it’s not just one person that was affected [by the student’s death],” senior Alma Martinez said. “It’s the whole community, the whole school, that was affected.”

Salazar’s idea of dressing up students in grim reaper costumes to pass out the death notices has won the support of campus administrators.

“To bring [the dangers of drugs and alcohol] to the forefront is good,” Assistant Principal Linda Granillo said. “Especially since it’s happening so early in the year, it sets a mind-set for the kids.”