CONGRATULATIONS TO ANOTHER CLASS OF DARE GRADUATES

THE ALAMEDA High School Gym was filled with electricity Thursday for the
35th Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) graduation ceremony. Some 500
fifth-graders from across the Island gathered with their families, friends,
teachers, DARE officers and others to celebrate their completion of the
anti-drug program. This brings the total to some 16,000 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 make
healthier and wiser decisions. We graduate almost 1,000 students 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: 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 the
gift certificates to the 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 a huge hit.

This year, Taryn Aguiar from Alameda High School, who is also a former DARE
graduate, sang an inspirational song. Our Alameda Police Volunteers were on
hand once again 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, and you will have a happier, healthier,
drug-free life.

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

Officers Jarrod Suth and Paul Hischier staff the Alameda Police
Department's Community Oriented Policing Preventative Services (COPPS)
unit. Their column appears Fridays. They can be reached at 748-4508, ext.
3305. Check out the department's Web site at www.ci.alameda.ca.us and click
on the police department option.