MAKING CHOICES

Ranger Program Offers Positive Reinforcement

Fifth-graders at Cherokee Middle School know the difference between good
drugs and bad drugs. And they know which good drugs become bad ones when
misused.

Their information has come through the Rangers Against Drugs program. For
the past six weeks, students have had extensive lessons twice a week,
explaining the dangers of drugs and how to make the right choices in life.

The National Park Service conducts the program.

The school's 67 fifth-graders were awarded a badge and certificate of
completion Thursday in a ceremony in the school gymnasium. Each
fifth-grader wrote an essay on what he learned from the program.
Sixth-through eighth-grade students who went through the program as
fifth-graders, watched and listened as winning essays were read.

One of the three first-place winners, Shelby Waddell, read his essay,
saying there are many options a child can choose for walking away from
drugs. "We are all unique, and everyone has a way out of that situation,"
Waddell said.

The guest speaker was Florence Fire Chief Charlie Cochran. He told students
that the choices they make now will impact their futures either in a
positive or negative way.

"It's simple, really," Cochran said. "Your passion for life centers around
the choices you make. Your choice is to do drugs or not do drugs. Study
hard or don't study.

"You know the right choices, and when you make them, you're taking
responsibility. I hope you get to be my age and can look back on your life
and say you'd do it all again."

Bradshaw High School senior Maggie Hendricks provided musical entertainment.

She urged students to form good, solid friendships.

"Pick your friends not because they're cool but because they care about you
and your life," Hendricks said. "Remember, it's not the crazy people on the
street who'll try to give you drugs. It's the people who know you trust them.

"Be true to yourself, and find good friends."

District ranger Calvin Farmer, who coordinated Thursday's program, had his
own words of encouragement for the students, telling them to be of strong
character.

"Every day you look in the mirror and see who you are, and every day that
changes," he said. "Make sure those changes are positives ones."