D.A.R.E. TRAINING OFFICERS VISIT SCHOOLS FOR FIRST TIME

Deputy Bill Lohman walked around the room of fifth-graders, firing
questions at them.

The Vernon Parish sheriff's deputy wasn't asking the kids about a crime,
just their favorite food.

"How many like pizza?" he asked.

A few hands shot up.

"How many like hamburgers?"

A number of hands waved in the air.

"Raise both your hands if you like both," he said, waving his hands in the air.

Each person has a different opinion about food, but it doesn't mean you
have to fight with someone who doesn't like your favorite, Lohman said.

"We can all get along and not have any violence even though we don't like
the same things or think the same way," he said.

Lohman was among 27 law enforcement officials in Rapides Parish schools
Thursday participating in a Drug Abuse Resistance Education training seminar.

The officers from throughout Louisiana, Alabama, Arkansas and Tennessee
have been in Alexandria since Aug. 13. They'll complete the workshop today.

The two-week course educates the officers on public speaking, classroom
discipline and how to interact with the kids, said Jeff Landry, a mentor
with the Louisiana D.A.R.E. Training Center.

The in-class visits are the final requirement before completion of the
workshop. Each officer taught in a first-, third- and fifth-grade class.

"This is what the whole two weeks is all about," Baton Rouge Constable
Scott Shavers said. "Getting into the classroom with the kids is the
ultimate part of the workshop."

Shavers was in LaNell Alletag's fifth-grade class at Cherokee Elementary
School with Lohman.

The two officers took turns speaking on such topics as safety, peer
pressure and preventing violence. Fifth- and sixth-grade students are the
target age for the D.A.R.E. program.

"This is extremely important for these kids," Alletag said. "These kids are
at a critical stage and are vulnerable to peer pressure. They need this."

Alletag's students agreed.

Laurence King, 10, said he learned a lot about pressure from the officers.

"I didn't realize there was that much," he said. "I had fun."

Ten-year-olds Clint Boykin and Anna Culpepper said their favorite part of
the lesson was the question game Lohman played with them.

"It was fun to see what different people liked even if you didn't like the
same thing," Anna said.

While the fifth-graders were learning about peer pressure, Merryl James'
first-grade class learned to not talk to strangers and how to dial 911.

But the lesson was mixed with stories from the students themselves.

Several of the kids had a tale about getting lost in the mall or running to
get help for a friend who had fallen.

"I think it is great for the officers to come here," James said. "The
younger you can reach them the better chance you have to help them."

The teachers, officers and seminar leaders agreed that the D.A.R.E. program
helps.

"I believe we are doing a good job for the kids, our future," Landry said.
"We can see the excitement in their eyes and the eyes of our officers, who
care about helping the kids."