STUDENTS GRADUATE FROM DARE

Submitted by Steve Carlyle

Jasper Elementary School students celebrated their graduation from the DARE
(Drug Abuse Resistance Education) program on June 14 at the school library.
About 60 family members of Grade 6 students turned out for the event.

This is the second year the DARE program has operated in Jasper. It works
to provide students with a knowledge base on the effects of drug abuse and
aims to build decision making and problem solving strategies kids can use
to make informed decisions, and resist the use of drugs.

The program also brings the firsthand accounts of police officers from the
street to the classroom. This helps students not only build a positive
relationship with law enforcement but also learn, in an intriguing way,
about what really happens to people who abuse drugs.

The program is a joint collaboration between Jasper Elementary School and
the Jasper RCMP detachment. The program was sponsored this year by the
Jasper Inn, Royal Canadian Lodge, Mount Robson Inn, Whistler's Inn, Rotary
Club, and Mountain Park Lodges.