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Cape Coral Police Department announces September 2010 student winners

By Staff

The Cape Coral Police Department announced its September 2010 Do The Right Thing winners Wednesday.
Students recognized were:

Overall winner
* William Sherman, 12th grade, Island Coast High
On July 14th at about 7 in the morning, there was an incident on a school bus which was en route to Island Coast High School for their summer program. One of the ESE students on the bus got out of his safety harness and went after a female bus attendant, kicking her in the chest. William, who was on the bus, saw what was happening and intentionally got between the student and attendant so she would not get further injuries. William put himself in harms way to protect someone else.

* Jocelyn Mijaro, 3rd grade, Pelican Elementary, daughter of Alicia Wade
Our Emergency Operations received a 911 call this summer from a very calm and collected eight year old. Jocelyn called from a cell phone stating that her mother was having difficulty breathing. When calls come in from cell phones, Emergency Operations tracks them down based on latitude and longitude. Sometimes it leads them to the area but not the exact location. In this instance, medics were sent to a particular intersection near a condominium complex to stand by. Because she was new to the area, Jocelyn didn’t know her physical address but at the request of communications, she left her mom’s side to find the day’s mail to get an exact address leading Battalion Commander Chris Cox and Sgt Jon Kulko followed by medics directly to her mom. When they arrived, they found Jocelyn caring for her mom as well as her 3-month-old brother. Her mom was having a severe asthma attack and was in serious condition. She was given several treatments on the scene before being transported. Through the entire stressful situation, Jocelyn remained calm and provided all information that she could.

* Cameron Ferazzi, 10th grade, Ida Baker High, son of Jennifer Larson & David Ferazzi
Cameron is a cadet in ROTC and has learned a lot from the classes. The ROTC program provides Cadets the opportunity to develop and improve themselves in many ways including self-discipline, confidence, and pride in a job well done, and offers many challenges, some of which are promoting and encouraging citizenship though participation in community service projects, sharpening communication skills and learning to stand up for what is right, and developing leadership potential.
When Cameron came across two students in the hallway pushing each other in an incident which was beginning to escalate into a fight, he stepped in and put his training to use. Cameron was able to diffuse the situation by talking to the participants and explaining the consequences of their decisions.

* Noah Harris, 4th grade, Pelican Elementary, son of Heather Stone
At age 10, Noah has faced some challenges in his life. He had a stroke at age three which affected his hearing for a period of time and two years ago he lost sight in one eye. He was enrolled in a hearing impaired class for a few years and became fluent in sign language. None of these challenges are slowing Noah down. He has been playing ice hockey at the Skatium for a number of years, and last year he voluntarily approached his coach and offered to be an interpreter for an adult hearing impaired team they were trying to form. He also offered to help, and continues to help, a physically impaired team of adults with their equipment and wheelchairs. Noah has obviously developed empathy for those with challenges in their lives.

* Jessica Lanza, 12th grade, Mariner High, daughter of John & Julie Lanza
Jessica Lanza, entering her senior year at Mariner, overcame some obstacles during the last six months that might have sidelined someone with less determination. Jessica is a Lady Triton Varsity Basketball player, and several months ago suffered a serious ACL injury during a game that left her benched and in pain. Recovery time for her surgery was six months taking her off the court as a player. Jessica neither drowned in self-pity nor got overwhelmed with her challenges. She kept a positive attitude, and immediately began to taking steps toward recovery. She took care of herself physically going to therapy after school, continuing her studies at school, and staying connected to the Lady Tritons by offering to coach and mentor the JV and Freshman squads during both practices and games. Jessica also volunteers with coaching at Challenger Middle School. Adding to the stress in her life was the fact that a family member was enduring their own medical issues while the medical bills began to accumulate. While the school sings praises about Jessica’s spirit, Jessica’s family is humbled by the actions of Mariner High. When they realized that the family was going to have a difficult time buying the $700 brace that was required for her recovery, several families in the Booster Club came forward to donate enough money for the purchase.
Jessica has returned to active play and can now often be found in the halls of Mariner helping out other mobility-impaired students, something she now has a greater compassion for.

* Constance “CJ” Adams, 8th grade, Challenger Middle, daughter of William & Rosemarie Adams
* Nicole Angelo, 8th grade, Challenger Middle, daughter of Christopher Angelo & Lee & Robert Doerr
As Constance and Jessica walked home from school, they witnessed a car strike a student, knocking him down, then leave the scene of the accident. The two girls offered their assistance to the young man who was somewhat stunned by the course of events, but he refused, so they continued home. Upon discussing it with their parents, both girls went back to school to tell the authorities what they saw. According to one of our traffic crash investigators, they gave a perfect description of the vehicle (make, color, and an orange sticker in the back window). They also gave a perfect rendition of how it happened, including placement of the boy walking, and rearview mirror being broken off. Because of the information provided by these two young ladies, the vehicle was located and the driver arrested for DUI and “hit and run.”

Source: Cape Coral Police Department