ANTI-DRUG CLASS PLANS GRADUATION

Sixth-graders at the Cranbury School will participate in a graduation
ceremony on Wednesday.

The graduation, however, will not signify their departure from the school.
Rather, it will mark the completion of the sixth-grade Drug Abuse
Prevention Program.

Under the direction of health teacher Cindy Vanderworth, the five-week
program teaches students how to identify and avoid illegal drugs and is
part of the health curriculum for sixth grade.

Cranbury police Lt. Ed Kahler and Officer Michael Owens visited health
classes to teach students lessons about drug abuse.

"We showed them the differences between medical and street drugs," said Lt.
Kahler. "They also learned ways to say 'No' to drugs and alternatives to
drug abuse."

Lt. Kahler said the students also were shown samples of different drugs
that have been confiscated in Cranbury.

"We discuss actual events in Cranbury and relate them to the lessons being
taught," said Lt. Kahler. "This drives home the fact that drug abuse can
happen anywhere."

Lt. Kahler said the program has been very successful, which is why the
Cranbury Police Department has continued participating in it for 12 years.

"I've had kids come up to me years afterwards to say what an impact the
program had on them," said Lt. Kahler. "They said it really gave them a leg
up on what's going on as far as drug abuse and said it was helpful that
they didn't have to learn about drugs on the street."

The graduation ceremony will be held in the school at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday.
It will consist of speeches by Chief School Administrator Carol Malouf and
representatives from the Police Department.

Students will receive graduation certificates and a T-shirt to commemorate
the completion of the program.