INSTRUCTORS DARE TO TAKE ON NEW ROLES

RCMP constables Steve Whitworth and Geoff Carpenter have taught Grade 6
students in the Foothills area to make smart choices to get ahead in their
lives.

Now the two Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) instructors have made
some choices to get ahead in their lives.

Whitworth, a full-time DARE instructor, has accepted a transfer to
Vancouver, B.C. Carpenter has accepted an offer to take over Whitworth's
duties as a full-time DARE instructor.

Carpenter isn't daring into foreign territory, he has instructed the
program at Senator Riley middle school or Holy Spirit Academy for three years.

"It's a program I really believe in," Carpenter said. "It's a chance to
work hands-on with the Grade 6 students.One of the goals is to reach youth
at a younger age so we (the RCMP) have a positive influence on them -
rather than having to deal with them later when it won't be so positive."

The DARE program isn't restricted to teaching students about drug and
alcohol abuse, it also teaches students about self-esteem and treating
others with respect.

The messages are reaching the students, said Whitworth.

"One of the highlights for me was there was this one boy who had a
reputation of being a bit of bully," said Whitworth. "At the end of the
program he said he would treat people better."

It's not just the cops who are involved with DARE.

"You hear a lot about community policing and sometimes you think it's a lot
of talk," Whitworth said.

"With DARE, you have parents, teachers, municipalities, all working for the
good of the children. It's pretty unique."

The students won't be able to call him "Constable Steve" much longer. With
his transfer to Vancouver in June, it will be "Corporal Steve."

Whitworth will be a corporal in the department's security engineering
department - working on locks and cracking safes.

Carpenter will be the full-time instructor at Foothills schools and
Strathcona-Tweedsmuir school beginning in September. Carpenter and
Whitworth will visit all schools in June. Carpenter will say hello, while
Whitworth will say good-bye.

"Growing up in Vancouver, I had the typical, "This is God's Country
attitude," Whitworth. "But I've learned to love living in a small town and
Alberta. I think when everything is all done, we'll come back to the
Alberta prairies to live."

An agreement to support the DARE program for a three-year period was
signed by representatives from the Foothills School Division,
Strathcona-Tweedsmuir school, the Towns of High River, Okotoks, Black
Diamond and Turner Valley, the Village of Longview, the MD of Foothills and
the DARE Works! Society at Percy Pegler school at Okotoks in September.

(photo) Const. Steve Whitworth and the RCMP Safety Bear clown around during
the signing of a three-year agreement to bring the Drug Abuse Resistance
Education program to the Foothills School Division and
Strathcona-Tweedsmuir schools in September. Whitworth, a DARE instructor,
has been transferred to Vancouver, B.C.