Miami-Dade students who did ‘the right thing’ rewarded by police for bravery, honor

Last month, Alana Johnson, in ninth grade at Miami Edison Senior High School, broke through a crowd of students gathered around a young girl who was having a seizure. After calming the student, Alana found teachers and adults who eventually helped her recover.

Over at Bel-Aire Elementary in Cutler Bay, fifth-grader Jesus Rodriguez and Mauro Valdes-Medina, in second grade, were rushing to tell a security guard they saw a boy on the bus who had a knife. It wasn’t an easy thing to do. Others on the bus told them not to say a word about what they saw.

“The student was subsequently searched and the knife was found,” Ariadna Espinosa, executive director of Do The Right Thing of Miami, told a crowd gathered in downtown Miami Wednesday to celebrate the student achievements. “In the face of peer pressure, Mauro and Jesus did the right thing and helped keep their school and classmates safe.”

On Wednesday, Alana, Jesus, Mauro and eight other students at different schools in Miami-Dade were honored by Miami Police and Do The Right Thing for their bravery during a ceremony at the Clarence Dickson Police College in downtown Miami.

Alana’s mother Georgette Madison is a longtime employee of the Lotus House, a safe haven for women and children. She said her daughter has been volunteering there for years.

“What she did didn’t surprise me because she’s always trying to be helpful. She knows the importance of being present. She knows service,” Madison said. “She’s like a role model to a lot of kids.”

Alana will be going to Washington, D.C., next year to meet other Do The Right Thing winners and to tour the nation’s capital. Trips to various monuments and the Smithsonian Institution await her. For their part, Jesus and Mauro get a trip to Rapids Water Park in West Palm Beach.

The 10 students, who were pared down from a list of 800, received mini-tablets, a plaque, t-shirts, Miami Marlins baseball tickets and free passes to ZooMiami and Island Queen Cruises. Three of the children who didn’t win the top prize were honored for telling adults about students who had brought guns to school. One turned out to be a toy, another a bb gun. But a third was real and the student who had the gun is facing charges.

This month’s awards ceremony, which took place in a building adjacent to Miami Police headquarters and just four days before Christmas, was also attended by representatives of U.S. Sens. Marco Rubio and Rick Scott and Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava.

The winners and why they were chosen:

Alana Johnson, a ninth-grader at Miami Edison Senior High, helped save a fellow student having a seizure.

Jesus Rodriguez & Mauro Valdes-Medina, of Bel-Aire Elementary, turned in a fellow student who had a knife.

Taniyah Frederick, in third grade at Colonial Drive Elementary School, helped someone in distress and told on a bully.

Jazmin Gibson, in 10th grade at Miami Killian Senior High, stopped a fellow student from hurting herself.

Dany Lopez, a third-grader at Somerset Oaks Academy, told a teacher about two kids who were beating up another student.

Romaris Martinez, a third-grader at Somerset Oaks Academy, spoke up about a fellow student with a bb gun.

Nicolas Ramirez is a second-grader at Kinloch Park Elementary who has overcome a speech impediment and become quite popular.

Lillian Spaulding, an Amelia Earhart Elementary third-grader, informed teachers she found a note in a bathroom saying someone had a gun. It turned out to be true.

Maria Parra, at Ronald W. Reagan/Doral Senior High, told a teacher she saw a gun in a book bag.

Ju’riyah Quinn, a first-grader at Nathan B. Young Elementary, also told a teacher she saw a gun in a bookbag. It turned out to be a toy, but she did the right thing.