Eleven Collier County students were recently recognized for good deeds ranging from saving a drowning child to turning in stolen fishing equipment.
The students were recognized at the fifth “Do The Right Thing” award ceremony for the 2012-13 school year at Lorenzo Walker Institute of Technology on March 18.
The Collier County Sheriff's Office adopted the "Do the Right Thing" program in January 1988, and has honored hundreds of children for acts that reinforce good behavior, positive acts, and outstanding accomplishments in the community.
The following students have been recognized for March:
Bianca Lombardo, second grade, Vineyards Elementary School
Bianca is very active in numerous extracurricular activities including cheerleading, piano lessons and gymnastics. For the past two years, she also volunteers as a peer buddy to children with autism. Bianca educates herself on behaviors of children with special needs and serves as a positive role model.
Mariana Maya, third grade, Pelican Marsh Elementary School
While eating lunch at school, Mariana discovered some money under a table. Believing it belonged to a parent who was eating lunch with his child; she picked it up and returned it to the man who did not realize it fell out of his pocket.
Maria Gomez, ninth grade, Barron Collier High School
Maria turned in a purse containing cash, credit cards and an iPhone that she found in one of the school hallways.
Tyler Melton, eighth grade and Logan Gross, seventh grade, Marco Island Charter School
Tyler jumped into a lake in an attempt to save the life of a man who was drowning. Despite his effort, Tyler also began to struggle. Logan jumped into the lake to try and save both Tyler and the man even though he had a broken leg at the time. The man did not survive, but thanks to Logan’s assistance, he managed to prevent Tyler from also drowning.
Deborah Cabrera, fourth grade, Golden Gate Elementary School
While shopping at Wal-Mart, Deborah came across a blue wallet that was left behind in a shopping cart. She turned in the wallet to her school and the dean was able to identify and return the wallet to its owner.
Alejandro Carrillo, ninth grade, Gulf Coast High School
Alejandro found a wallet someone had left behind on his bus. He immediately turned the wallet into the school’s youth relations deputy so they could locate the owner. Alejandro also respected the privacy of the wallet’s owner by not looking inside before handing it to the deputy.
Tobias Vargas and Franco Facciolo, fifth grade, Pelican Marsh Elementary School
Tobias and Franco are both on their school’s safety patrol and continue to be of great help even when off duty. One day when there was a substitute driving their bus home, they sat behind the driver and helped out by telling her where each stop was and which students were to get off.
Evan Richards, fifth grade and Seth Hooks, sixth grade, Everglades City School
Evan and Seth came across some fishing rods and reels while playing outside. They turned them over to the Collier County Sheriff’s Office. It was later discovered that the rods and reels had been previously reported as stolen.
Photo by Joe Geoffroy/CCSO