LIFELONG LESSONS FROM DARE

Fifth-And Sixth-Graders Graduate From Ten Week DARE Program.

Under the guidance of one of Cranbury's finest, students dared to learn how
to protect themselves against drugs.

During their normal health class for the past 10 weeks, the Cranbury School
fifth-and sixth-graders participated in DARE, Drug Abuse Resistance Education.

The students graduated March 12.

Cranbury Patrol Officer Michael Owens taught the group. At the graduation
in the Cranbury School cafeteria, he honored their efforts with
certificates and medals in a graduation ceremony. He also highlighted
outstanding student performances for class work.

About 140 students graduated from this year's DARE program. The kids
attended the class Monday through Friday for 10 weeks. The lessons are part
of the school's health curriculum. Former Cranbury Police Chief Harry
Kleinkauf introduced the program to the Cranbury School.

According to the DARE Web site, 36 million school children around the world
will benefit from this program, which gives kids the skills they need to
avoid involvement in drugs, gangs, and violence.

DARE was founded in 1983 in Los Angeles and is now being implemented in
nearly 80 percent of American school districts and in more than 54
countries around the world.

Officer Owens said students are graded on class participation, homework
completion and a DARE report, which is their final assignment.

"It's a summary of all the things they learned throughout the program,"
Officer Owens said.

Sixth-grader Angie Abbis received the award for best DARE report in the
graduating class.

"We learned a lot about statistics on drugs and it was mostly stuff we
didn't know," Angie said. "We learned that over 400,000 people die each
year from tobacco use and the danger of mixing medicines with alcohol."

Arienna Joyce said her favorite part of the class was the DARE question
box. Anonymously, students wrote questions on paper and put them in the
box. Officer Owens answered the questions aloud.

"It was easier than just going up to a police officer and asking him those
types of questions," sixth-grader Elizabeth Kelly said.

Officer Owens said students asked questions like, "has he ever had to use
his gun to shoot someone?" and about the effects of particular drugs.

"All of their questions were answered," Officer Owens said.

To close the brief graduation ceremony, Police Chief Jay Hansen and Captain
Ed Kahler handed out certificates and DARE T-shirts to all of the students.
Staff and faculty sliced and served cake while Chief School Administrator
Carol Malouf commended the new DARE graduates.

"These are lifelong lessons," Ms. Malouf said. "You should be able to stand
out and say 'no' when people are making poor decisions because peer
pressure is everywhere and drugs are everywhere. Cranbury is no different
from the rest of the world."