DARE awards presented
Students participating in the DARE program at Peabody Elementary School were recognized Tuesday during the DARE culmination program.
Bruce Burke, DARE officer, gave an overview of the program. Then Burke, along with principal Ken Parry, presented certificates to program participants.
Winners of the DARE essay contest were named. First place winner was Embry Hodges, second place was Connor M. Weir, and third place was Heather Brooks.
Susan Robson, Marion County attorney, was the guest speaker for the evening.
Following are the top three essays:
First place
By EMBRY HODGES
DARE was started in 1983 by some police officers in Los Angeles, Calif. There are 36 million children that are in the DARE program every year. Seventy to 90 percent of all crimes are drug related.
We have DARE at school. Sgt. Burke taught us a lot of ways to stay drug and violence free. The DARE program was 18 weeks long. He came to our classroom every Tuesday for an hour.
I have learned how drugs can affect you and your life. I really like DARE and I am glad we get to do it. It should help my classmates and me. I am glad we got to do DARE because I really enjoyed it.
I had a good DARE experience. I always will remember when we had to make decisions on different things like if we liked K-State football or KU basketball more. I learned that if you have to do something bad to be someone's friend they aren't going to be a good friend. If you stay drug and violence free you should have a better life than if you do drugs and were violent.
If I needed help I could talk to my parents, a police officer, and a family member. I hope my essay will help people not to do drugs and stay off them. I hope that the little kids will be in DARE and they will not do drugs. I hope my report will help people to not do drugs.
Second place
By CONNOR M. WEIR
Hi, I'm Connor and I'm a DARE student. Have you ever heard of the DARE program? DARE stands for Drug Abuse Resistance Education. It's a great organization! DARE started in 1983 in Los Angeles, Calif., at a police department. DARE's goal is to teach kids how to stay drug and violence free! I think they're doing a great job!
There are lots of different ways you can do this program. We do ours like this. One officer comes to one of our rooms. Our DARE officer is Sgt. Burke. He talks to us about the K-State football and basketball games! He likes K-State! But then he has to teach us about drugs and violence, and of course we should stay away from them! Our DARE is every Tuesday, unless he's sick or gone. DARE goes for 18 weeks (for us).
I think that the DARE program is a great way to teach children how to stay drug and violence free and that they can ruin your future life! When DARE first began I liked it the same as now. I haven't run into any problems with drugs or violence. One of the main things I've learned is that smoking can give you gum disease, make your teeth weak and discolored, and can make a big hole in your throat.
The most important thing about being drug free is your future will be a lot easier to make! One of my many goals is to go to college and become an actor. I hope you sign up for DARE next time you have a chance. Make sure you tell your friends also! Just remember a drug free and violence free life is GREAT!
If you ever want to go and hang out with some cool kids and they want you to do drugs or steal anything, go shoot baskets or run around the track or something YOU WANT to do! Your future will be a lot better if it's a drug free life! It's so important that you don't do drugs that they have a program to tell you the eight ways to say no!
Third place
by HEATHER BROOKS
I want to be drug and violence free. My goal is to not do drugs and stay out of trouble. I hope nobody in my class takes a risk to do drugs. I learned the eight ways to say "No." I also learned if someone is doing any kind of drugs stay away from them. I felt happy to start DARE. Every Tuesday we have been having DARE class. DARE is held in both of the fifth grade classrooms.
My goal is to not do drugs and stay out of trouble, because I don't want to be addicted to drugs or get in trouble. If I get asked I will say, "No." It is not fun to get in trouble, because, if you get in trouble, you will get to see Sgt. Burke and you will be in trouble at home.
I learned the eight ways to say, "No." The first one is to say, "No thanks." The second one is to give a reason or excuse. The third one is "broken record," or say no as many times as necessary. The fourth one is to walk away. The fifth is to change the subject. The sixth one is to avoid the situation. The seventh one is to cold-shoulder them. The last one is strength in numbers.
If someone is doing drugs you should go some other place, because you don't want to get addicted to drugs. If you get addicted to drugs, you can't get off of them most times. Drugs are bad for you because it makes our lungs black if you smoke. If you chew, it will eat your lip. Both of the drugs are bad for you.
I felt happy about starting DARE because I learn more about drugs. Starting DARE was a fun thing because I wanted to learn more about drugs and all of the other stuff. I think it was fun and it was. My brother told me that it was fun. I really liked DARE and I hope you liked DARE too!
