DARE TO SAY NO!

Almost 100 Students Graduate Friday From Drug Program

The chances a good many students at Southeast Lauderdale Middle
School will get into trouble later in life by taking drugs or
drinking alcohol got much lower Friday as they graduated from the
Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) program.

They are now armed with the single most important weapon against drug
and alcohol abuse, knowledge.

During a graduation ceremony, almost 100 students received their
diplomas. Along with each diploma that was handed out, there also was
an expressed promise on the part of the students they would not
partake in drug, alcohol or tobacco use. They made a conscious
decision to keep their bodies and lives clean thereby giving
themselves a clear advantage to fight temptations later in life.

"You just won't find a better DARE program than the one here,"
proclaimed SEL Middle School Principal Kenny Neal.

Project DARE is a cooperative effort of the Lauderdale County School
District and the LCSD to educate young students on the dangers
awaiting them down the road if they make the wrong decisions. Sheriff
Billy Sollie said an added plus of the program is having deputies
such as McClure and Ricardo Clayton who have done so much to make the
DARE programs successful in the past and the present.

"When you have law enforcement officers who know first hand through
their experiences how these addictions can affect you, I think the
children listen a little bit closer," said Sollie. "This program
gives the child the tools to become responsible adults."

Even the parents of the graduates, such as Clint and Barbara
Wilkerson, have seen over the course of several weeks how the program
has helped their child.

"She has become more confident and has developed a positive outlook
to do the right thing," Clint Wilkerson said of his 11-year old
daughter Lindsey Wilkerson who is a sixth grader. "She's more open
about the subject of drug abuse to us and her friends. Her eyes are
more open to the pitfalls associated with abuse."

This class represented McClure's first to graduate since his becoming
a DARE coordinator this year. His pride in the students was very evident.

"They have done everything asked of them without so much as a peep,"
McClure said. "They are very smart and have challenged me at times. I
love that about them."