INNISFAIL – For many students it’s not just about facing challenges but how you respond to them.
Grade 5 students at Innisfail Middle School recently learned that and more thanks to the D.A.R.E. program (Drug Abuse Resistance Education).
The annual D.A.R.E. graduation was held on March 22.
“We’re at the middle school today and we have about 85 D.A.R.E. graduates in three classes,” said Const. Craig Nelson, the Innisfail RCMP's community school resource officer. “On April 1 we’ll also be doing the grad for the Catholic school, for a total of about 120 students.”
The D.A.R.E. program runs from October to March with about 10 in-class sessions, noted Nelson. Students complete a project and the top ones from each Grade 5 class are chosen to present their projects to classmates and receive a D.A.R.E. T-shirt.
In addition, all students receive a certificate to mark the completion of the program.
“D.A.R.E. teaches kids problem-solving skills. We give them four steps to define, assess, respond and evaluate a problem and determine how to make the best decisions,” said Nelson, noting students often deal with things like stress, proper communication and bullying.
“We talk about those types of things, so it fits really nicely with the health curriculum for our kids and they usually get credit in health (class) for the D.A.R.E. program,” he added.
Parents, teachers and fellow students gathered together on March 22 to celebrate the D.A.R.E. graduates.
Nelson thanked community partners Central Alberta Co-op and McDonald's restaurant for donating cake and drinks for the afternoon graduation event.
Nelson said it was another successful year for the program.
“Grade 5 is the perfect age to roll this program out and help those kids develop those skills that they’re going to use throughout their lives,” explained Nelson, noting the important roll police play in the program.
“It’s nice to have the police deliver it so that we become that positive role model, that person that does that prevention piece.”
It was an exciting day for everyone, added Nelson.
“They’re an amazing group of kids.”
