FORT HIGH D.A.R.E. FIRST IN CANADA

Fort High students are getting a booster shot of Drug Abuse Resistance
Education (D.A.R.E.) thanks to local RCMP and their supporters.

The program is the first of its kind in Canada for high school students,
says Cst. Lea Turner with the Fort Saskatchewan RCMP. Cst. Helen Meinzinger
will teach students the personal, social and legal consequences of
substance abuse, plus lessons on anger management, conflict resolution and
building better relationships.

A similar program has been taught to local Grade 6 students since 1996, and
recently expanded to include every Grade 6 student in public and Catholic
schools in Fort Saskatchewan, Bruderheim and Lamont.

Fort Saskatchewan RCMP were also one of the first to bring the program to
Grade 7 students, says Turner.

The new high school program will reach many students who received the first
D.A.R.E. class while in Grade 6 in 1996, Turner adds.

"Research has shown that for the program to work there has to be that
inoculation later."

The first high school class began its D.A.R.E. program at the Fort High on
Tuesday, April 18. Turner hopes to see the program expand into Pope John
Paul II High next year.

The local D.A.R.E. program is funded by Dow Chemical and the Elks lodge.