On March 1, 2022, thanks to a sponsorship with Little Caesars in Fairlea, we treated our two 6th grade D.A.R.E. classes to a pizza party!

Photos courtesy of Deputy S. L. Morris, Greenbrier County Sheriff’s Office
Xylazine….Worse than Fentanyl

Xylazine….Worse than Fentanyl

Xylazine….Worse than Fentanyl Increasingly around the country, the animal tranquilizer xylazine — known by street names like “tranq,” “tranq dope” and “zombie drug” — is being used as an additive by drug dealers of illicit fentanyl laced opioids, making its impact...

D.A.R.E. Rings the Nasdaq Stock Market Closing Bell

D.A.R.E. Rings the Nasdaq Stock Market Closing Bell

D.A.R.E., the largest and most comprehensive K-12 drug prevention educational program in the world, visits the Nasdaq MarketSite in Times Square. In honor of the occasion, Robert Strang, Vice-Chairperson of D.A.R.E., rings the closing bell.

Fentanyl FAQ and Talking Points

Fentanyl FAQ and Talking Points

Fentanyl Have a conversation with students or your children. Simply telling teens to not do drugs is not the most effective way to discuss fentanyl and other opioid drug risks.  The teens that are the most at risk may just tune this warning out if they feel like...

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Being a D.A.R.E. officer was one of the career goals I set for myself while still in the academy. As a rookie, a good friend of mine was teaching D.A.R.E. and I saw firsthand the impact he made on his students. Finally, after 23 years I was blessed when I was assigned as School Resource Officer. The school I was assigned to had no D.A.R.E. program and I was doubly blessed when I was able to attend D.A.R.E. Officer Training and start a program in the school.

As SRO, I took note of kids who were regulars in the office for discipline issues. One of those students was Brian (name changed). Brian was one of those “tough guy” 5th graders who constantly disrupted his teachers’ classes and picked on other kids on the playground. When we started the D.A.R.E. curriculum, Brian was his usual disruptive self. My school does D.A.R.E. slightly different than most in that the principal assigned me my own classroom and the teachers bring their students to me. If I had to call Brian down one time during Lesson One I had to call him down a dozen. In the middle of Lesson Two, I saw the lightbulb come on. While I was getting the class to line up to go back to their regular classroom, I noticed Brian had gotten a sheet of notebook paper and was desperately writing down the Alcohol and Tobacco from his D.A.R.E. Planner. I patiently waited for him to finish and when he had he told me he wanted to take the facts home to his father. The spark had been lit.

Throughout the remainder of the Core Curriculum, I still had to call Brian’s name occasionally for disruptiveness and I often wondered if that spark I saw in Lesson 2 was just that, a spark. I asked myself if he had heard a single word I had said in the entire program.

To ensure complete fairness, I have one of the assistant principals judge the D.A.R.E. Essays and choose the winner. I have them put the winners’ names in a sealed envelope which I open and read during the graduation ceremony. I don’t find out who the winner is until the students do. To my complete surprise, the D.A.R.E. Essay Contest winner for his entire class was Brian! The tough guy I saw in Lesson 1 teared up as I gave him his gold medal for the accomplishment.

At the end of the school year, Brian’s homeroom teacher asked me, “What did you say to Brian?” She then told me she had not had a discipline issue with him for several weeks and credited his time in the D.A.R.E. class for the change she saw in him.

Today, I still see Brian in the halls and during lunch. Gone is the “tough guy” persona, replaced with a smiling kid. Brian himself credits the D.A.R.E. program for making a difference in his life. I had the opportunity to speak with him while he was waiting in line for the cafeteria. He asked me if he could come back to D.A.R.E. class. When I told him he couldn’t come back to 5th grade he told me his story. A story I never knew while he was my student.

Brian told me his father is a chain smoking alcoholic. He said he is the youngest child and both of his older siblings have followed their father’s example. Brian said by using the D.A.R.E. Decision Making Model, he was able to think about choices and their consequences.

I am extremely proud of all of my students. I know we are not supposed to have “favorites”, however, Brian will always have a special place in my heart. The D.A.R.E. program didn’t only change Brian’s life, it changed mine as well.

– Mark Ingram, Grady County Sheriff’s Office, Chickasha, Oklahoma

Award Nominations for the 2023 D.A.R.E. Awards

Award Nominations for the 2023 D.A.R.E. Awards

D.A.R.E. America is accepting nominations for the 2023 Awards:

  • D.A.R.E. Law Enforcement Executive of the Year, 
  • Daryl F. Gates D.A.R.E. Lifetime Achievement, 
  • D.A.R.E. Officer of the Year, and
  • D.A.R.E. Educator of the Year.

Recipients of these prestigious awards…

Lafayette County’s D.A.R.E. Program Graduates 225 Students

Lafayette County’s D.A.R.E. Program Graduates 225 Students

Lafayette’s D.A.R.E. program graduated 225 students recently. The D.A.R.E. program taught by Lafayette County deputies is a 10-week course that focuses on how students can make responsible decisions when it comes to drugs, alcohol, tobacco, bullying and peer pressure.

Copyright © 2022 D.A.R.E. America. All Rights Reserved.

Copyright © 2022 D.A.R.E. America.
All Rights Reserved.