D.A.R.E. THROWS FIFTH-GRADE BASH

"So cool -- it rocks -- there's music, you can eat, you can run
around, you can sign each other's shirts, you can get dirty -- and
it's way better than school," exulted Kianna Underwood, a fifth-grader
at Hillside Elementary School, at last Thursday's fifth-grade party.

Underwood wasn't the only one having a blast last Thursday.
Fifth-grade students from all over the district gathered at Woodman
Field to celebrate the end of the school year -- and their successful
completion of the 17-week D.A.R.E. program -- with games, deejay
dancing, sports and safety demonstrations, and a barbecue. It was the
sixth annual party given to the students by the Montclair Police
Department, in cooperation with other local entities interested in
keeping Montclair children safe and free of drugs.

D.A.R.E., which stands for Drug Abuse Resistance Education, is an
international organization that seeks to educate students as early as
elementary school about drugs, gangs and violence. In Montclair -- as
well as in 80 percent of the nation's school districts -- information
about the dangers of drug and alcohol use, street safety, and making
responsible choices is presented in classrooms by local police
officers. Following the students' completion of a series of exercises
and assignments, a multischool party is held at the end of the term.

"We teach them about responsibility, thinking before they do things,
consequences," said Montclair Police Officer John Timchak, D.A.R.E.
officer for Hillside. "Whatever you want to do -- athletics, school,
art or music, whatever -- you need a clear brain, coordination, and
sane judgment."

For the fifth-graders at Woodman Field on Thursday, the message had
clearly sunk in. Hung on the fence surrounding the field were student
projects proclaiming, "Do drugs and you will become a slug"; "Drug
free is the way to be"; "Don't you dare touch those drugs!" and "If
you don't understand by now that smoking is a dangerous and
life-threatening habit, then I seriously suggest you should see a
psychiatrist."

At the party, police officers both on foot and on horseback,
firefighters, emergency medical technicians, and members of the
Montclair Police Department's Critical Response Team were on hand to
answer questions and join in the festivities. The event was a
communitywide effort funded by donations from the Montclair chapters
of the Fraternal Order of Police Officers, the Police Athletic League,
and the Police Benevolent Association, as well as local businesses
like Alpine Ice in Bloomfield, and Pathmark. Students were treated to
a downhill mountain bike demonstration, given tours through a
"smokehouse" to learn about fire safety, and invited to dance to the
house/r & b/hip hop music of deejay Corey Anderson, who has been
volunteering for the D.A.R.E. event for the past 6 years.

"The smokehouse was the coolest thing," said Kyleigh Vanderford of
Bradford Elementary at the end of the event. "And I liked it that you
can see old friends here from other schools."

Agreed Bradford student Sophia Lewis, "The D.A.R.E. people make it fun
to learn about safety, instead of boring."