FIFTH GRADERS RECEIVE D.A.R.E. CERTIFICATES

Students Learn To Say No To Drugs

DESLOGE - Five classes of fifth graders at North County Intermediate
School left school Friday as D.A.R.E. graduates.

Deputy Gary Carver, the county's D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance
Education) instructor, presented each of the fifth graders with a
certificate for completing the program. The fifth grade program
focuses on peer pressure, and the dangers of using alcohol, marijuana
and cigarettes.

Principal Brad Mora said it was his first year to be involved with the
D.A.R.E. program and he was impressed with the way the students take
the program seriously.

He told them that after completing this program together, they should
be supportive of each other and keep each other on the right path.
While they were excited about getting a certificate, most weren't
ready for D.A.R.E. classes to come to an end.

"I wish D.A.R.E. would end in ninth grade because we could learn a lot
more," Allyssa Welch said.

Collin Vasquez and Jace Burt both said the program was
fun.

"I learned not to do drugs," Steven Dowell said. Casey Johnson said
they learned how to say no.

Hayleigh Block said drugs users have to worry about getting arrested.
She said she wouldn't want to have to live her life in fear of being
arrested. She said if she used drugs, it would be like flushing her
dreams down the toilet.

Matthew Dalton and Alyssa Dean said they learned about the hundreds of
poisons in marijuana and cigarettes. Austin DeClue said he learned
that marijuana and cigarette use can cause lung cancer, bad breath and
yellow teeth.

"And alcohol can make you dumb," DeClue added. Carver became some of
the students' favorite teacher.

Joey Wilson, Brandon Gill and Sean Ives said Carver was a good teacher
and he was funny.

"He was the best teacher in the world," Anthony Avila
said.

"He's really nice and funny," Destiny Luye said.

"He picks on us and we can pick on him, too," Morgan
Smith.

"And he does like to pick on people," Angel Godat added.

"Deputy Carver's awesome," Kayla Dickens said.

Some others like Lauren Skaggs and Toni Govero said they like Darren,
the stuffed bear mascot for the D.A.R.E. program.

As part of the graduation requirement, each student completed a
200-word essay about the D.A.R.E. program. Joey Wilson, Kayci Johnson,
Hayleigh Block, Derek Mitchell and Mikayla Barlow were the winners of
the D.A.R.E. essay contest.

D.A.R.E. was founded in 1983 in Los Angeles and has now implemented in
75 percent of the nation's school districts and in more than 43
countries around the world.