ALAMEDA DARE GRADS HAVE A LOT TO BE PROUD OF

THE Alameda High School Gym was full of electricity Thursday for the 36th
Drug Abuse Resistance Education graduation ceremony. Some 500 fifth-graders
from across the Island gathered with families, friends, teachers, DARE
officers and others to celebrate their completion of the program.

This brings the total to about 18,000 DARE graduates since the program
began in Alameda schools in 1986.

DARE is a comprehensive 10-week program that educates Alameda youth about
the danger of drugs, alcohol and violence. The specific task is to teach
kids skills to resist the pressures to experiment with alcohol, tobacco and
marijuana and to make healthier and wiser decisions.

We graduate almost 1,000 kids each year and every graduation celebration
reminds us of the great community, team effort to educate our future
leaders. DARE is funded by the Alameda Police Department and the Alameda
Unified School District but counts on generous financial support from
across the community. We would like to thank the following organizations
for their generous donation to the DARE program: The Elks Lodge #1015,
which contributes 1,000 DARE T-shirts each year for the students; Harsch
Investment Corporation-South Shore Center and Park Street Business
Association for gift certificates to winners of the essay and poster
contest; and Safeway at South Shore for the helium for the DARE balloons.
Without the support from these businesses, the DARE graduation would not be
such a huge hit.

This year, Taryn Aguiar of Alameda High School, a former DARE graduate,
sang an inspirational song for the current DARE graduates and their
families. Our Alameda Police Volunteers were also on hand to help us pull
off a successful graduation. They are an invaluable support to our
department and help us do our job more efficiently.

Once again: Congratulations DARE graduates on a job well done.

Don't forget what you've learned, apply it to your life and you will have a
happier, healthier, drug free life.

For more information on the DARE program, contact the COPPS Unit at
337-8305 of visit DARE's website at www.dare.com