SIBLEY ASKS TO CONTINUE DARE PROGRAM

WHO MET: Northfield School Board members, Sibley Elementary Principal
Scott Sannes, Police Chief Mark Taylor, Officer Paul Haider and four
sixth-grade graduates of the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program at
Sibley Elementary School: Erin Hahn, Meg Etzell, Noah Hile and Mason
Lindenfelser.

WHAT HAPPENED: Sannes, Taylor and Haider gave a brief introduction to the
DARE program at Sibley, and then Hahn, Etzell, Hile and Lindenfelser all
read their DARE graduation essays to the school board.

WHAT THEY SAID: Taylor thanked the school district for allowing the police
department to teach the DARE pilot program in three fifth-grade classrooms
at Sibley and expressed the desire to continue and possibly expand DARE in
the district's elementary schools.

After working with students for 10 weeks as part of the program, Haider
was very positive about the results of the pilot.

"DARE does more than just give them alternatives," Haider said. "The
mission of the whole program is to equip children with how to avoid
negative influences.

"It gives kids an introduction to a police officer and it gets somebody at
the ground level in conversation with kids."

Erin Hahn, one of the four DARE graduates who spoke during the program,
said the program taught her a lot about making good choices and avoiding
peer pressure.

"I will always know what to do if I'm stuck in a sticky situation because
of DARE," she said.

WHAT'S NEXT: Scott Sannes asked for approval from the board to move ahead
with the DARE program in the 2008-2009 school year at Sibley. After posing
several questions to Sannes and Taylor, School Board Chair Kari Nelson
expressed interest in continuing the program, which cost the Northfield
Police Department roughly $2,000 to $3,000 in training and overtime
expenses during the last school year.

Nelson also discussed following up with the DARE graduates as they move
through their sixth-grade year in the Northfield Middle School for
additional retrospective feedback on the program.

The school board will address the DARE pilot program and any possible
expansion plans at their next meeting in the Northfield High School Media
Center at 7 p.m. Sept. 8.