Fresno Elks Lodge hosts Westside Elementary students for drug awareness event

Fresno, Calif. (KFSN) — The Fresno Elks Lodge is taking action to protect our youth.

Dozens of students from Westside Elementary School at Five Points filled Fresno’s Elks Lodge Tuesday morning as part of the lodge’s annual Red Ribbon Week.

“We wanted to give them an opportunity to have fun while learning,” said Susan Good, a Fresno Elks member and the Drug Awareness Vice Chairman for the California Hawaii Elks Association.

The students, all 3rd, 4th, or 5th graders moved to different workstations.

They took notes and asked questions as they learned about the potential dangers of drugs and alcohol.

“We’re learning about what would we say about drugs to avoid doing it,” said Valentin Mendez, a 5th grader at Westside Elementary School.

Organizers made sure the students enjoyed their time creating impromptu dance parties between activities.

Assemblyman Jim Patterson also made a visit to present a proclamation to the Fresno Elks Lodge for their efforts and to speak to the students about fentanyl.

“It is the most dangerous of the synthetic opioids,” said Patterson.

Patterson says given the seriousness of the drug, it’s important to teach kids about it early.

“They’re not too young to understand it, and in many respects, I think it’s a good thing to warn of the dangers,” said Patterson.

The Fresno Police Department brought in K9 officer Flash.

The officers answered questions and explained how Flash is specially trained in narcotics detection.

Organizers say they hope students will take what they learned and spread it to others.

Students were taken to John’s Incredible Pizza for lunch. There they could win prizes for answering questions related to everything they learned during their drug awareness event.

WATCH: Killer High: The Silent Crisis

Copyright © 2022 KFSN-TV. All rights reserved.

Comments are closed.