Sipherd student named a Patroller of the Year by AAA safety program

Gabriella Marie Vasquez, a sixth-grade student at Christine Sipherd Elementary School in Modesto, has received a Patroller of the Year award from the AAA School Safety Patrol program. The school will receive a $2,000 grant from AAA Northern California to invest in its safety patrol program,

AAA Northern California honored Gabriella for her leadership and safety skills to prevent pedestrian injuries and fatalities. For example, Gabriella is always excited to be on duty and never hesitates to sub on days that she is not assigned, according to a news release.

Aside from the school safety patrol program, she has been student body president and a member of the SEEDS program, played saxophone in advanced band and volunteered to help the school secretary.

Since 1920, the AAA School Safety Patrol Program has been instrumental in helping students get to and from school safely. It is the largest safety program in the world, with more than 635,000 patrollers in schools nationwide who dedicate their time to safeguard pedestrians.

Gregori student moving on in entrepreneur competition

Elizabeth Perkins of Gregori High took first place in the regional Network For Teaching Entrepreneurship Owning Your Own Future regional competition at Fresno State last week, winning a total of $750 and a chance to win $25,000 at the national competition in New York in October. She was one of three Modesto students among the 37 who competed. The other two locals were Chris Wilcox and Kevin Amie of Davis High.

This story was originally published June 3, 2017 at 12:32 PM with the headline "Sipherd student named a Patroller of the Year by AAA safety program."