MILLIS STUDENTS SAY 'NO' TO DRUGS

Millis - Last Thursday, five fifth-grade students confirmed to an auditorium
full of parents, teachers and other fifth-graders that they would
never smoke, use drugs or drink alcohol.

"I pledge never to smoke, drink or do drugs," said Shannon Miles
while reading an essay she wrote for the class. "No matter how much
people pressure me, I will never do it."

DARE, which stands for Drug Abuse Resistance Education, is a program
through which students earn the skills they need to avoid involvement
in drugs, gangs and violence, according to the program's Web site,
www.dare.com.

During the school year, the students met once a week with Officer
Christopher Soffayer to learn about the harm caused by drugs and
alcohol, and how to avoid peer pressure.

"The graduation for the fifth-grade students is to cap off the year
and reward them for all the hard work they have done in the class,"
said Soffayer.

At the DARE graduation ceremony, one student from each of the five
classes was chosen to read an essay on what each had learned during
the year in DARE class.

The essays were chosen by Soffayer based on content of knowledge they
learned in the class, tied in with references to the students' own
personal experiences.

"I have learned a lot from the DARE program," said Amelia Burrus,
while reading her essay. "I have learned to make good choices and not
give in to peer pressure."

Through the class, the students learned what smoking and drugs can do
to their bodies. Smoking is the biggest cause of lung cancer, and
drinking alcohol can slow down every part of your body, including
your brain, said Shannon Miles in her speech.

Ella Amaral said she thought having taken the DARE program would help
her make good decisions throughout her life.

"Four-hundred thousand people die every year from smoking and 3,000
people die every year from, not smoking, but breathing other people's
smoke," said Amaral while reading her essay.

"Do you know how many poisons there are in tobacco?" asked Julia
Molinaro during her speech. "Two-thousand!"

"Marijuana burns your brain cells and they won't come back," said
essay winner Nicholas Daniele. "Many television commercials make
alcohol look like it's fun and safe. That's not true. It is very
dangerous even for adults. Many restaurants have banned smoking
because of the dangerous effects on other people."

Besides learning about the negative effects of tobacco, drugs and
alcohol, the students learned about the five kinds of pressure:
Positive, negative, personal, friendly and bullying.

The students learned that while positive and personal pressure can be
good, like when you put pressure on yourself to accomplish something
constructive, the other forms of pressure can be bad.

"Friendly peer pressure is when your friends give you good reasons to
do the things you don't want to do," said Molinaro.

The five essay winners were awarded a gift pack with DARE hats and
T-shirts, plus a $50 savings bond, said Soffayer.

Beyond the five students chosen for their exceptional essays, Michael
Tomaino was chosen to receive the Kevin Fortier Memorial Award, named
after a Millis DARE officer who was killed in an automobile accident.

Nominated by his teachers for being a well-rounded, polite and
academically astute, Tomaino will be awarded with the same gift pack
as the essay winners, as well as a family night out to a Red Sox game.

"Tomaino was business all the time in class, but when the bell rang,
he was back to being a kid," said Principal Andy Zitoli.

At the end of the ceremony, each fifth-grade student in all five of
the classes was awarded with a certificate and a DARE T-shirt.

Following the graduation, everyone had ice cream at a reception in
the cafeteria sponsored by the Black Cow, a local ice cream parlor.