DARE PROGRAM IS HUGE BENEFIT TO LOCAL STUDENTS

The Drug Abuse Resistance Education program, known as DARE is a structured
educational program that began in the Los Angeles school system several
years ago.

Since its inception, DARE has been adopted in numerous communities across
the United States and many foreign countries. The program provides
information about drugs, violence resistance, gang resistance, teaches
decision-making skills, improving students' self-esteem and showing ways to
resist drug use and peer pressure. The program in presented by sworn police
officers in uniform.

Officer Mike Moses heads the Cleveland Police Department's DARE program and
officers Jeremy Noble, Mike Ricker, Marnie Corbit and Brian Montgomery
instruct the Cleveland Middle School program.

These officers have received special training to present the DARE program
and are evaluated yearly by State of Tennessee Department of Safety DARE
training staff.

Recently Corbit received one of the highest evaluations ever given by the
Tennessee Department of Safety Training. Staff officer Corbit is the
Cleveland City Elementary School Resource Officer and taught the program at
Arnold Elementary School.

The DARE officers, as they are referred to, teach fifth grade city
elementary classes, as well as seventh grade in the middle school. When
they are not doing classroom instruction, the officers spend their time
performing their School Resource Officer duties and interacting with
students in other various school-related activities. The student's
perception of the police is enhanced in a positive way and the officer
becomes accepted as a trustworthy friend.

A total of 348 students completed the program during he 2001-2002 school
year in the elementary schools and 338 students completed the middle school
program. DARE officers also speak to students in kindergarten through
fourth grade classes using a drug and safety program to spread a drug- and
trouble-free message.