Event gives anti-gang tips to kids

Danielle Nadler/ViewTra-Mi Bao, 12, left, greets the newest Metropolitan Police Department patrol horse during The Right Track anti-gang event at the John D. "Jackie" Gaughan Boys & Girls Club, March 24. Danielle Nadler/ViewMetropolitan Police Department Officer Byron Stringer, a volunteer with the D.A.R.E. program, leads kids at the John D. "Jackie" Gaughan Boys & Girls Club, 920 Cottage Grove Ave., in a lesson on how to walk away from gangs, drugs and alcohol during The Right Track anti-gang event, March 24. Advertisement

Metropolitan Police Department D.A.R.E. Officer Byron Stringer stood in front of a sea of rambunctious kids inside the John D. "Jackie" Gaughan Boys & Girls Club at 920 Cottage Grove Ave. on a recent afternoon, set to teach them how to flee drugs, alcohol and gangs.

"If somebody wants you to join a gang, what will you say?" he yelled across the crowd.

"No," the young voices answered in unison.

The "Just Say No" mantra was the theme of the anti-gang event, dubbed The Right Track, put on by nine UNLV nursing students on March 24 as part of a class project.

When the students received the assignment to, in some way, help the kids in the neighborhood near the UNLV campus, senior nursing student Dana Lusiani called Clark County Commissioner for District E Chris Giunchigliani to ask what her concerns were for the area.

"She said that there is a real need for anti-gang education," Lusiani said. "It has become an inner-city community."

She added that The Right Track event also acted as a reaction to the shooting at the Andre Agassi Boys & Girls Club, 800 N. Martin Luther King Blvd., in February, which the Metropolitan Police Department believes was gang related.

"We wanted to put a positive twist on that to show that there are people out there to help children get on the right track," Lusiani said.

The two-hour fair kicked off with Stringer's talk on how to refuse drugs, alcohol and gang involvement. Then, the 150 or so kids filed out to the club's courtyard, where they were invited to sit on police motorcycles, meet McGruff the Crime Dog and pet the police department's patrol horses.

Twelve-year-old Tra-Mi Bao talked about her three years as a member of the Boys & Girls Club while she sat behind the wheel of a parked police car. Tra-Mi, who is a model club member, according to the club's director Adam Jimenez, said she would not be surprised if her classmates fell into drugs, alcohol or gangs.

"There's a chance they will get in a gang," she said. "I think anything's possible now."

The Gaughan Boys & Girls Club claims nearly 400 members and sees about 150 kids a day. Many of those, Lusiani said, have tainted views of police officers.

"This is a chance to show kids that the police are here to help," she said.

Nine-year-old Angel Valdez said some of his friends are afraid of police officers, but he looks up to them as role models.

"They teach us to make our future better," he said. "They taught me to say no to drugs and gangs. It would be better for me to go play baseball or something."

Jimenez said it's vital for the neighborhood's kids to understand the opportunities around them.

"If they take the easy way, they won't get anywhere," he said. "If they work hard, they can do well. They need to hear that they can succeed."

The goal of The Right Track and D.A.R.E., according to Stringer, is to build a foundation for kids so they will refuse drugs, alcohol and gangs with the same assuredness when they're teenagers as they do today.

"If they have a strong foundation, they will make the right choices," he said.

Contact Southeast and Southwest View reporter Danielle Nadler at dnadler@viewnews.com or 224-5524.