Youth / News for the 18-and-under crowd

El Morro Elementary School students, as part of their school’s Values In Action program, pitched in $100 this week to help buy a police dog for the city.

Principal Linda Purrington said 396 children from the school--most of them contributing quarters--raised $99.19 to help replace a former police canine named Gero, who retired in November and died last month. The school’s former librarian offered a final $1 to make the total $100.19.

“Some of them went without a snack, you know, didn’t spend a quarter on the bag of Fritos,” Purrington said. Others gave money from their allowances, she said.

The new dog is expected to cost more than $12,000, Purrington said.

“We realize we’re just giving them a little bit of a start,” Purrington said of the sack of quarters, dollar bills and even a few dog bones presented to Laguna Beach Police Chief Neil Purcell at a school assembly. “It was a heavy bag.”

The fund-raiser was part of the school’s emphasis this year on compassion. For each of the past three years, El Morro has focused on a particular value so that words such as “responsibility,” “respect” and “compassion” will have meaning for youngsters, Purrington said.