BY JENNIFER KOHLHEPP
Staff Writer

SCOTTPILLING staff Guy Canzano runs his Lifesavers Club meeting at Allentown High School. MILLSTONE — In a world where many youths decide to use cigarettes, alcohol and drugs, Gaetano “Guy” Canzano has shown his individuality and maturity by staying substance-free and convincing others to do the same.

For his service to the student population at Allentown High School (AHS) as president of the Lifesavers Club and the Natural Helpers Club, Gaetano, 17, of Millstone, has been selected as one of this year’s People Who Make A Difference.

Gaetano, who has been a member of the Lifesavers Club, which is a drug-free club against the use of tobacco, alcohol and drugs, has served as the club’s president since his junior year at AHS.

“We stretch our words to the other students on how not to use drugs because they can mess up their futures,” he said.

Gaetano initially got involved in the Lifesavers Club during his freshman year at AHS because he wanted to help people and also get involved with the students in his school.

“I am not a huge fan when others around me smoke and drink,” Gaetano said.

The club elected him as president during his junior year.

“During my freshman year, I befriended students Ashley Toms and Amy McMath, who was president of the club,” he said. “They convinced me to stay active in the club and to try for the presidency.”

Over the past four years he has been involved in the Lifesavers Club, Gaetano said he has watched its membership grow from 50 members into 200. The club also won two Gold Star awards for being one of the top six drug prevention action groups in New Jersey.

AHS Student Assistance Coordinator Rick Rivera, who oversees the club, said, “Thanks to Guy’s dedication and ability to motivate others, our club has not only won this award, but has helped many students to choose a drug-free lifestyle.”

Rivera said Gaetano has participated in cross-age teaching skits and other activities that involve taking risks and performing in front of others.

“With an innate ability to relate positively to younger students, Guy has been a tremendous role model,” Rivera said. “He has taken on the leadership role with our cross-aged teaching program. Additionally, he has networked with other high schools to share and improve upon new ideas.”

Gaetano said that as president of the club, he creates agendas, organizes activities and keeps students involved.

“Today we went rock climbing,” he said. “We do many natural-high activities such as bowling and even three-day retreats.”

This year, Gaetano went on a retreat to Mount Misery in northern New Jersey.

“We worked on team building and ... came up with slogans and commercials that we could put on A-Town Live, our morning announcements,” he said. “And, we came up with a song for our club.”

Gaetano said he is pushing for the club to provide one-on-one support to students who may have problems with drugs or alcohol.

“We’re discussing that now in our executive meetings,” he said. “It’s hard for younger students to open up to adults.”

Even if members of the Lifesavers Club couldn’t be alone during a peer mediation session, Gaetano said it may be beneficial to have a student present while a counselor is speaking to a student having problems.

Gaetano said, “Every half an hour, a victim of a drunk driver or a driver under the influence of alcohol is killed in an accident.”

As a means to visualize the effects of drinking and driving for their peers, members of the Lifesavers Club present the Living Dead Project. Every half-hour during the project, another Lifesavers member appears dressed in all black, wearing white face paint and dressed like a ghost. For the remainder of the day, that person is not allowed to interact or speak with other students to exemplify the effects of drunk driving.

Members of the Lifesavers Club will present this project at AHS in April around the time of the prom, according to Gaetano. Brookdale Community College, Lincroft section of Middletown, recently invited Gaetano to speak about the project on its campus. Afterward, he and other Lifesavers members performed for the school’s students.

Gaetano has had many public-speaking opportunities as president of the Lifesavers Club.

“The role of the president is to publicly represent the school and the club if we do go out somewhere,” he said.

Gaetano also had the opportunity to invite a special guest speaker to AHS. He asked Marceea Clark to give a presentation of how a drunk driver completely transformed her life.

“She is a speaker who came in and talked about one night when her brother and a friend were driving home and their car stalled a few hundred feet from the exit they were supposed to get off on,” he said.

“When her brother opened the door,” he continued, “a drunk driver came by and hit and killed him instantly.”

Gaetano said that Clark relates how her family dealt with that incident as well as how the driver spoke to her and apologized. Clark is now trying to get the driver to come along with her on school

visits to tell their story.

When asked why he believes the Lifesavers Club and other drug- and alcohol-free activities are important for students his age, Gaetano said, “When you don’t have meetings and activities that keep kids out of trouble, they use drugs and alcohol nonsensically.”

Gaetano said his overall agenda is to promote a healthier lifestyle among his peers, which is why he also became a member of the Natural Helpers Club. The club is a peer-to-peer-based club.

“We work on preventing, helping with and solving problems,” Gaetano said. “Our mission statement is natural helpers take good care of themselves and others.”

Gaetano is also a member of REBEL, or Reaching Everyone By Exposing Lies, which is New Jersey’s youth-led anti-tobacco movement. He went to a retreat on Nov. 9-12 during which he learned about tobacco use and ways to prevent it.

“I learned that as a group at large, we can’t make as a big of an impact as we can as individuals going up to people and talking to them about stopping smoking,” he said.

Overall, throughout his time at AHS, Gaetano said he has seen tobacco, alcohol and drug use go up and down.

“One year it goes up, but then, like this year, it definitely went down,” he said. “Each class has a different outlook.”

Gaetano, who wants to go to college to study psychology and pursue a career as an FBI detective, has applied to Ramapo College of New Jersey in Mahwah, Farleigh Dickinson University in Hackensack, Kean University in Union, Montclair State University in Montclair and Caldwell College in Caldwell.

When asked why he would like to have a career as a detective, Gaetano said, “I like to help others. That’s my thing.”

He added, “Seeing others happy makes me happy.”

Gaetano credits a few people with helping him follow the right path throughout high school.

He said that Garth DeBlasio, of Millstone, is his best friend.

“He’s a huge support for all that I do,” he said.

He also said teacher Ellen Jacko was always there for him.

“She showed me how to open up,” he said.

Gaetano also thanked River and AHS Principal Christopher Nagy for their continued support.

Rivera said Gaetano’s motivation and commitment in his efforts to help others lead successful, drug-free and violence-free lives is commendable.

“Guy leads by example,” Rivera said. “His impact on his classmates in the Lifesavers Club, Natural Helpers, staff and administration will be felt for years.”

Rivera continued, “Though he exhibits a quiet perseverance and attention to service mankind, he produces results, student involvement and attention to humanity pursuits unlike any student I have ever seen.”

Of Gaetano’s future, Rivera said, “Guy will continue to do great things in the name of humanity.”