Valle Catholic Fifth Graders graduated from the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) Program on Friday, January 16th in a ceremony at the new DuBourg Centre attended by family and friends.
Also in attendance were the DARE role models: Emily Bauman, Bree Kertz, Nicole Kertz, Jacob Trautman, and Nathan Zerwig of Valle Catholic High School. Also present were Valle Catholic assistant principal, Mrs. Jill Metzger, Rev. Gregory Klump Associate Pastor from the Church of Ste. Genevieve, and SGPD Chief Eric Bennett.
During the DARE Program, a series of 10 lessons, students are taught to recognize and resist the pressures that may influence them to experiment with tobacco, alcohol, and other drugs. The program is under the instruction of Officer Pete Unverferth of the SGPD.
As a requirement of the program, each student composes an essay explaining what they learned in DARE. The essays include a pledge to make wise decisions regarding drugs, alcohol, and tobacco. This year’s winners were Scarlett Alcorn, daughter of Chevis Stearns and Luke McClure, son of Rich and Colleen McClure.
DARE was founded in 1983 in Los Angeles and has proven so successful that it is now being implemented in 75 percent of our nation’s school districts and in more than 43 countries around the world.
