PUPILS SPEAK OUT TO END DRUG USE

AGAWAM - If friends try to get you to drink or smoke, they are not
real friends, Angelina Pietroniro said.

Pietroniro was one of the four essay contest winners who read their
compositions to an enthusiastic crowd in the Middle School
auditorium at the DARE graduation on Friday. DARE stands for Drug
Abuse Resistance Education.

Parents were invited, and each of the fifth-graders got a
certificate and T-shirt and shook hands with Mayor Richard A. Cohen;
state Rep. Rosemary Sandlin, D-Agawam; Police Chief Robert D.
Campbell and Assistant School Superintendent William Sapelli.

Susan Federico, acting assistant middle school principal, read the
names of all DARE graduates.

The essay contest winners were Angelina, Gina M. Lopez, Erica L.
Gallerani and Andrew S. Provost.

Cohen told the pupils that the education through the DARE program is
an example of how much family, friends, educators, town officials
and others care about them. He told them to talk to the people that
care about them when they are faced with making choices.

The two DARE officers are Karen Langevin and John T. Field. Field
said this is the first year there will be a sixth-grade DARE
program, so he would see the fifth-graders again next year.

Sandlin said that a lot of schools do not have the opportunity or
funds for DARE programs. She said the basic message is good
behavior. "Agawam is proud of you," she said.

Campbell said that each year at DARE graduations when he sees the
fresh faces, it makes him see it is all worthwhile.

In his essay, Andrew said that drugs and alcohol can do many harmful
things to your body. "Alcohol and drugs are not going to screw up my
life," he said. "I also play hockey so I don't want my reflexes to be gone."

Erica said, "Lots of people, including me, don't know why people use
drugs." She said that she has learned that it is illegal to sell
tobacco to anyone under 18 years old and that alcohol slows the
brain and central nervous system.