DARE: AN EDUCATION IN SAYING 'NO'

It was a "cool" night for Steven Wendel, a fifth-grader at Spring Hill
Middle School.

Everyone he felt deserved an award got one. He got a nice graduation
certificate himself for his efforts. And he learned some valuable
lessons about staying away from drugs.

Proudly holding his graduation certificate, Wendel recounted two of
the most important things he's learned from the Drug Abuse Resistance
Education program.

"I learned what some drugs look like and never to use them," Wendel
said.

Wendel was just one of nearly 130 students who graduated from the DARE
program Tuesday night. DARE classes at the middle school began 16 weeks ago.

During that time, the students role-played, learned about peer
pressure, self-esteem and the eight ways of saying "no."

"Kids are really intelligent, but a lot of times they make mistakes
because they don't have the right information," said Johnny Edwards,
DARE instructor. "The DARE program is not just about saying no. It
teaches life skills and teaches kids about consequences."

Edwards has been with the Longview Police Department for the last 18
years. He's been teaching DARE to students since last January.

Edwards said the DARE program is important for students because too
often they see policemen in a negative light.

"Most policemen are always seen at the worst time when they have to
deal with things like arresting people. With this program here, kids
can see us differently. In fact, I found they look forward to seeing
you."

Spring Hill Independent School District and Pine Tree Independent
School District were the two districts in Longview that kept their
DARE programs this year, sharing the cost with the city.

Due to financial constraints, the Longview Independent School District
was not able to continue the program in its schools.

Pine Tree ISD splits the cost with the city. The district's share is
$8,510. Spring Hill spends about $3,457 on the program.

"It's working," said SHISD Superintendent Mike Crossland. "It's been
very well-received by our staff and community, and we felt it was a
worthwhile project. For us, it (keeping the program) was never an issue."

Spring Hill Middle School Principal Mike Gilbert commended the
superintendent and the board at Tuesday night's graduation for their
decision to keep DARE.

"I thank the superintendent and the board for making the decision to
keep DARE, for caring enough to keep it alive (in the schools),"
Gilbert said. "The threat (of drug use) to our young people is very
real."

In addition to a short skit performed by the DARE students, the event
also included a slide show of the students' work in the program over
the last semester.

And as the students walked across the stage Tuesday to receive their
certificates and awards, both Edwards and Officer T.C. Laughlin, a
DARE instructor at Pine Tree ISD, couldn't help but smile.

"I love working with the kids," Laughlin said. "If I can save even one
kid, I felt like I've done something. Kids can learn about drugs in
two places: Either on the street or in the classroom where they can
learn the truth."