The Grade 5 students of Penhold School graduated from the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) program on April 17.
“It's wonderful,” said Clark Peters, the principal of Penhold School, of the 10 week long program.
Cpl. A.J. Mand from the Innisfail RCMP detachment taught the course to the Grade 5 classes. He told the parents who came out to see the graduation he's been teaching DARE since 1995.
“I really enjoy the program,” Mand said.
The DARE program covers more than just drug awareness, he said. It covers peer pressure, stressers and situations outside of school as well.
“Each week is a different lesson,” Mand said. He said this year's students were particularly animated during the sessions.
“The Penhold School, the Grade 5s, this year they've been phenomenal,” Mand said.
Mand had a few of the students read from essays they wrote about the course. The essays covered topics like the negative effects of drugs and alcohol and the differences between good and bad peer pressure. One essay even compared good peer pressure to parents getting their children to eat broccoli versus a colleague pressuring someone to partake in drugs or alcohol.
