LOCAL STUDENTS GRADUATE FROM DARE PROGRAM

Dozens of El Dorado USD 490 fifth graders graduated Thursday evening
from the DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) program. Ceremonies
were held in the auditorium at El Dorado Middle School.

Darryl Smith, women's basketball coach at Butler Community College,
addressed the crowd at the graduation ceremony. Smith talked to
parents and students about the power of proper motivation and why
drug and alcohol abuse is a subject with no gray area.

"You can't do it!" Smith said. "Nothing good comes from it."

A self-professed "loud talker," Smith suggested that kids should all
take an interest in an activity, whether it's athletics, band or chess club.

"Be involved in something," he said. "I've seen how [drugs] ruin lives.

"Listen to your parents...learn to be honest all the time...be
motivated to do something with your life."

DARE essay winner Sierra Bonn, a Grandview Elementary fifth grader,
read her paper to the audience of nearly 400 parents and students.
Bonn's essay was the overall winner out of the entire El Dorado DARE
program and earned her a $500 savings bond.

In addition to being the overall winner, this year, Bonn and seven
other DARE students each won a $50 savings bond donated by Dan Hill
of Heartland Monument Company for writing the best essay in their
individual classes.

The other seven winners were Justin Eustice, Mitchell Maitland,
Danika Moore, Austin Plummer, Jennifer Riley, Jordan Toedman and Sage
Waltemath.

Bonn said she learned nine different ways to say "No" during the DARE
program, her favorite methods being "Use Humor" and "Give a Fact."
She cited an example from class in which an appropriate response
would be "No thanks, my parents would ground me for life!"

"Seriously, my parents would ground me for life," Bonn said. "I would
ground myself."