STUDENTS GET DRUG AWARE

DARE Grad

Students from three elementary schools graduated last Thursday --
graduated with a few skills to help them resist alcohol, drugs and violence.

Approximately 80 students from Cedar Grove, Davis Bay and Halfmoon
Bay elementary schools graduated from the DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance
Education) program at a special ceremony held at the Chatelech Theatre.

At the ceremony, organ-ized by Sunshine Coast RCMP and School
District No. 46, each of the students was presented with a DARE
graduation certificate. Two students were selected from each class to
read their DARE essay in front of family and friends.

DARE was founded in 1983 in Los Angeles and has proven so successful
that it is now being implemented in more than 43 countries around the
world. DARE is a police officer-led series of classroom lessons that
teaches children from Kindergarten through Grade 12 how to resist
peer pressure and live productive lives free of drugs and violence.

Const. Chris Pillsworth, the Coast's DARE program co-ordinator,
taught the students at Davis Bay. Const. Todd Creed taught the
students from Halfmoon Bay, and Const. Carmen Swicheniuk taught the
students from Cedar Grove.

The officers took the students, all in grades 5 and 6, through 10
weeks of in-class study. Students had to complete assignments in a
workbook, be drug free, have good attendance and write a DARE essay
in order to graduate from the program.

"Bringing police into the classroom is just another way of connecting
with youth," Pillsworth said. "We get to show there is a different
side to police officers."

Just a few years ago, the Sunshine Coast detachment had only two
officers qualified to teach the DARE program. There are now five
fully-trained officers, and Pillsworth hopes to have all the schools
on the Coast involved with the program by next year.

This year's DARE grad class includes: Cedar Grove Emily Backs, Jazz
Chodak, Alexander Christian, Jayde Duranleau, Harrison Duxbury-Sleep,
Audrey English, Lindsay Forrest, Brianna Frewin, James Irwin, Erik
Keyser, Malcolm Leinberger, Mikayla Lewis, Xann Lyle, Kori Mulligan,
Cole Nadelko, Brittnee O'Reilly, William Owen, Sara Perry, Steven
Phare, Miles Pierron, Kaitlyn Samson, Gillian Sanders, Christine
Tait, Tandia Termuende, Miles Tingley, Jamie Webb, Cameron
Colleypriest, Sydney Lambert, Sam McLennan, Forrest Patton, Alyssa
Zucchet. Davis Bay Marco Brambilla, Magen Brewer, Felicia Browning,
Jerrod Bruni, Kirsten Calder-Sutt, Mary Casey, Camille Dallaire,
Gabriel Dallaire, Robert Dixon, Orion Franske, Alissa Harkin,
Savannah Helsdon, Brendan Hickey, Hansen Lim, Elvis Lu, Brianna Lumb,
Emma Marquis, David McDonald, Dallas McKinney, Cameron McLean,
Matthew Noel, Scott Parfitt, Rebecca Stanley-Clarke, Alexandria
Todoruk, Monika Van Vliet, Lance Vian. Halfmoon Bay Tamara Archer,
Sean Clarke, Madi Craig, Graden Deasey, Kiri Dwyer, Andrew Flockhart,
Clare Griffin, Zoe Hadeler Lund, Connor Kobus, Christopher Lawson,
Kalle Laycock, Krista Mackillop, Jessica McKee, Kelly McKee, Lance
Mercer, Nathan Mount, Quinn Paul, Sawyer Paine, Samantha
Pinter-Thompson, Reanna Popp, Eli Richard, Caitlynn Riddell, Coreen
Saunders, Stephanie Schweighardt, Brad Seabrook, Max Shoemaker,
Tristan Sweet, Devin Trokicic, Dawn Wright.