RCMP and school board officials proudly handed out D.A.R.E. graduation certificates and pins on Jan. 17 to 113 Grade 5 students from Innisfail Middle School and St. Marguerite Bourgeoys School.
D.A.R.E., which stands for Drug Abuse Resistance Education, is the internationally recognized education program that was founded in 1983. It teaches young students, through a partnership with police forces and school boards, lessons on how to properly deal with high-risk choices and to resist peer pressure when making decisions on whether to use drugs, alcohol and tobacco.
ìIt is not just about drug abuse. It is about stress and the stressors young people face and how to deal with it,î said Innisfail RCMP Cpl. A.J. Mand, who in 1995 participated in one of Canada's first D.A.R.E. courses while serving with the police force in Red Deer. ìKids can figure out what the issues are and learn about choices. And it is about making the right ones. It doesn't have to be just in school. It can be at the mall, playground or wherever. It is about life.î
Mand said he estimates more than 1,000 Innisfail students have graduated from the D.A.R.E. program. The 113 students who were graduating at last week's ceremony in the gym at Innisfail Middle School had completed a 10-week program. Four of them, who were chosen as having the best D.A.R.E report from the program, were honoured with D.A.R.E.'s Darren the Lion stuffed animals.
ìIt is a terrific program. It teaches kids self-esteem and prepares them for the future,î said Penny Archibald, Ward 4 trustee for the Chinook's Edge Board of Education, who attended the graduation ceremony. She was joined by Diane MacKay, a trustee with Red Deer Catholic Regional Schools, who was representing the graduating St. Marguerite Bourgeoys School students.
ìThey (kids) will get to work with RCMP. They are there to help,î added Archibald, who is also the longtime respected Div. 3 councillor for Red Deer County. ìIt is at this age when we have to start preparing kids for real life in what is not a perfect world.î
During the hour-long ceremony, attended by dozens of parents and well-wishers, each graduating student came up to the stage one at a time to receive their pins and certificates after their name was announced by Innisfail RCMP Const. Chris Lavery, the local detachment's school resource officer who was dressed in the police force's classic red serge dress uniform.
ìIt has been a lot of hard work with the kids working together and accepting responsibility,î Lavery told the students and the guests in attendance.
