2020 Award Presentation Celebrating D.A.R.E. Officers, Leaders, and Memorializing those we lost.

2020 D.A.R.E. Award Recipients

Each year, D.A.R.E. America presents awards to outstanding officers and law enforcement leaders at our annual International conference.  This year, dues to COVID-19, we are presenting these online.

Officer Miguel Ángel Herrera Martínez

Officer Miguel Ángel Herrera Martínez

D.A.R.E. Mexico Officer of the Year 

Joanna Salati

Joanna Salati

D.A.R.E. Officer of the Year

Ben Schamp

Ben Schamp

Educator of the Year 

Randy Lee Kirkman

Randy Lee Kirkman

Lifetime Achievement Award 

Sheriff David Beth

Sheriff David Beth

Law Enforcement of the Year

Rylee Grubb

Rylee Grubb

YAB Scholarship Recipient 

Joanna Salati 

D.A.R.E. Officer of the Year 2020

 

PFC Salati is lifelong resident of Milford CT and a 22 year veteran of the Milford Police Department where she is serving as a scheduling Officer the Patrol Division.

PFC Salati completed the Milford Police Academy in February of 1999 and became a full time probationary officer in April 1999.  In 2006 she was selected as a DARE Instructor for the Milford Police Department. In 2008 she was then selected for the Bicycle unit for the Milford Police Department.  In 2008  she was selected for the Child Restraint Specialist for the Milford Police Department.  PFC Salati was also chosen as a Recruitment team member and Community Police Officer shortly after that.  In 2011 PFC Salati was sworn in as a director for the NEAO which she currently holds today.  She was also certified for the Governor’s Task Force Justice for Abused Children; “Finding Words” Forensic interviewing.

In 2011, PFC Salati was transferred into the Special Investigations Unit where she became a detective working with victims, children and families.  A few years later she returned to the patrol division where she remained a patrol officer until she was transferred into her current positive as scheduling officer. 

PFC Salati is currently finishing her degree at the University of New Haven in Investigations and will subsequently continue her education.  PFC Salati loves boating and traveling overseas. 

Officer Miguel Ángel Herrera Martínez 

D.A.R.E. Mexico Officer of the Year 2020

 

Officer Miguel Ángel Herrera Martínez is originally from the city of Mérida, Yucatán, he is 49 years old and has been married for  29 years and has two children.

Officer Miguel Ángel Herrera Martínez has 15 years of being in the police and has a rank of Police Third. He has 12 years of being a DARE Instructor and he was part of the first generation of DARE Instructors in the city of Mérida. He is also D.A.R.E. certified for parents.

Instructor Martinez has a Certificate in advanced studies, one in human rights and non-discrimination, the other in violence prevention and strengthening of citizen security from the Carlos Slim Foundation. In addition, he also has two certifications, one in life skills, from the international LIONS QUEST foundation and the other in the implementation of information strategies for the prevention of drug use in the population from 12 to 17 years of age of YOUTH INTEGRATION CENTERS (CIJ)

Officer Miguel Ángel Herrera Martínez is a person in love with his work and it reflects in everything he does and seeks constant training especially in prevention issues.

He has great empathy with children and young people for which he has earned the love of all his students, in the schools where he teaches the D.A.R.E. Program, and has also earned the respect of parents, who constantly show their appreciation to Officer Miguel Ángel Herrera Martínez in different ways.

He organizes soccer tournaments in schools at the end of his school day, seeking to keep his students busy with positive activities.

To celebrate the anniversary of DARE in Mérida, every year it is part of the Organizing Committee of the DARE Athletic Day, a pedestrian race that involves more than 1,200 children and youth of the city, as a way of keeping DARE in their minds and the importance of staying healthy.

With his simplicity and calm character, he has earned the respect of his coworkers and the teachers and principals of the schools where he has held the position of DARE Officer.

Due to the health contingency, he encouraged the D.A.R.E. lessons to be taught virtually, managing to carry them out since April 2020.

 

Ben Schamp 

D.A.R.E. Educator of the Year 2020

 

Ben Schamp is entering his fourth year of teaching at Crestview Local Schools. Ben has been an educator for five years with part of that time spent as an Intervention Specialist. He currently teaches Health and Physical Education within 7th grade and High School. Ben is a 2014 Bluffton University graduate and currently working towards his Master’s of Education from American College of Education. Ben is committed to student success inside of the classroom as well as in life. He loves fostering relationships with his students and colleagues. Outside the classroom, Ben enjoys coaching high school football for Crestview. When not in the coaching role he enjoys spending time with family and friends.

Randy Lee Kirkman 

D.A.R.E. Lifetime Achievement Award 2020

 

Randy Kirkman is a retired career police officer from the Sierra Vista, Arizona Police Department. His assignments included patrol, detectives, hostage negotiator with S.W.A.T., DARE officer, and DARE training officer. His favorite assignment was being involved in the DARE program and he continues to train police officers across the United States and the world how to be DARE instructors. Randy is passionate about helping police officers learn how to teach the DARE program effectively and helping kids make safe and responsible decisions. He has trained police officers in many foreign countries to include Hungary, Belgium, Japan, Germany, and many others.
He lives downtown Kansas City, Missouri with his wife, Donetta. He has five children and 10 grandchildren. His hobbies and interests include running, traveling, hunting, fishing, and sports, especially Kansas City Royals.
He has a Bachelor of Sacred Literature from the Midwestern School of Evangelism, Ottumwa, Iowa.

Sheriff David Beth 

D.A.R.E. Law Enforcement of the Year 2020

 

Sheriff David Beth was born in Kenosha County. He attended local schools and continued his education at UW Parkside, Gateway Technical College and Northwestern University. Out of college he worked for Snap-on Tools as a Product Designer before becoming a deputy hired by Kenosha County in 1982 at the age of 21.
1989 saw the start of the DARE Program in Kenosha County. Sheriff Beth was the first deputy chosen to get the program up and running. David taught the DARE Program for 10 years within the elementary, middle and high schools within Kenosha. Sheriff Beth still attends almost every DARE graduation that takes place within Kenosha County. In November of 2002, Sheriff Beth was elected to be Kenoshaos 58th Sheriff, and longest serving Sheriff in Kenosha History. As Sheriff, he is in command of almost 400 employees with a budget of over $42 million. David is in charge of the Kenosha County Jail which is the 2nd largest jail system in the State of Wisconsin with a capacity of 970 inmates.

2020 Scholarship Award

Rylee Grubb 

YAB (Youth Advocacy Board) Scholarship Winner 2020

 

Rylee Grubb is from Corning, Arkansas.  His parents are Jason and Mary Ann Grubb and he has a younger brother named Bentley.  Rylee is a 2020 honor graduate from Corning High School.  He will be entering his freshman college year with 24 college hours he obtained during high school.

Rylee is a 3 sports varsity starting athlete for: Football – running back, Basketball – Team Captain point guard, and Baseball – Team Captain centerfield.

Rylee is also an active Junior Fire Chief and was awarded the Lions Club Volunteer pin for logging in over 100 hours of community service. Rylee has also obtained his Real Estate License before he graduated High School.

As a YAB, One project that he completed was expanding the D.A.R.E. K-12 Opioid and OTC/Rx Drug Abuse Prevention Enhancement lessons into his high school and introduce and help teach Enhancement lessons to the Alternative Learning Education classrooms.

He reached out to over thirty superintendents in Arkansas public school districts asking them to watch his video and slide show on implementing D.A.R.E into their schools.

Rylee was accepted into a private college, Williams Baptist University, to major in Business Administration and Marketing.  Rylee plans to continue to work the real estate market on a family team and obtain his broker’s license after graduation college.

In Memorium

Honoring those we lost