MOUNTAINEER SPORTSCASTER ENCOURAGES 200 DARE GRADS TO 'DO THE RIGHT THING'

Almost 200 fifth-graders gathered in the auditorium of North Elementary
Tuesday morning to celebrate their commitment to staying drug free.

Morgantown DARE Officer Joel Smith, joined by special guests Lt. Reese
Groscup of MPD, Board of Education member Nancy Walker, Mon County West
Virginia Education Information System Coordinator Betsy Mullett, WVU
Mountaineers coach Rich Rodriguez and "Voice of the Mountaineers" Tony
Caridi, welcomed the 170 North Elementary and St. Francis students and
their parents.

"These students have spent the past 17 weeks preparing themselves for when
they move on to middle school and through life," Smith said. "DARE not only
teaches the kids about drugs, but it also teaches them how to make
decisions, understand the consequences of their actions, handle peer
pressure and build self esteem."

Caridi had a very personal message to share with the graduates. A tried and
true message, he said, that has helped him throughout his own life.

Caridi spoke of a boy, poor, one of 10 children, who was born in another
country far away. The boy didn't have much growing up, he said, but worked
hard and made the right decisions. At 32, that boy, now a man, decided to
pack up what little he had to move to America.

Once in America, the man continued to work hard and "do the right thing,"
never letting his rudimentary English get in his way. He bought a business
- -- a grocery store -- and watched the kids in the neighborhood grow up in
his store. As youngsters, they ca me in with their parents and bought
candy, then they would come in alone.

They went through middle school and high school. The grocery store owner
knew the kids that got involved in drugs and alcohol, and saw them get into
car accidents and other troubles. But through it all, he offered all of
those neighborhood kids the same advice: "Do the right thing."

"That's my dad," Caridi said. "I'm one of three kids. I, too, was raised in
that grocery store, and saw those kids grow up. All I needed to do was
listen and learn."

Caridi said the reason he shared his father's story was to illustrate to
the graduates that the deck is never stacked against you. Rich kid or poor
kid, short kid or heavy kid. Your chances are the same if you work hard and
do what's right.

"Find out what it is that you guys and girls love to do, what it is that
you're passionate about and what really gets you excited," he said. "And
when you find it, embrace it. Wrap your arms around it and learn everything
you can about it."

Caridi warned the pre-teens that peer pressure will only get worse as they
get older.

"The temptations will get bigger as you get bigger," he warned. "There will
always be someone trying to get you to go down the wrong path. So you must
always ask yourself, 'Is this the right thing for me?' Not the easiest
thing, but the best thing."

Caridi told the graduates that there will always be kids that "crash
themselves, crash their cars. Dead people, dead bodies, kids just like you,
who thought they were doing the right thing taking drugs."

Caridi said the hard truth is that some of the students sitting in that gym
Tuesday would die or end up in jail because of drugs and alcohol.

"The statistics show it will happen. It's inevitable. Just don't let it be
you."