Cook County fifthgraders completed the 2014 D.A.R.E. (drug and alcohol resistance education) program in May. The program, which includes discussion of risk and consequences, peer pressure, dealing with stress, bullying, helping others and getting help from others, ends with a graduation ceremony. The D.A.R.E. graduates are pictured here with Cook County Sheriff Deputy Ben Hallberg who is the D.A.R.E. instructor.
The end of the school year is a busy time for graduating seniors. But it is also a time of finishing things up for elementary school students. On May 20, 2014, fifth-graders from Oshki Ogimaag and Sawtooth Elementary gathered at the Arrowhead Center for the Arts for graduation from the D.A.R.E. program.
Deputy Ben Hallberg welcomed students, parents and community members to the graduation and explained a bit about the program, which he said had evolved since its beginning as a “Just Say No to Drugs” effort. Hallberg said the curriculum includes discussion of risk and consequences, peer pressure, dealing with stress, bullying, helping others and getting help from others. “It’s not just teaching about drugs and alcohol. There is a lot of good discussion and roleplaying exercises. That was a little embarrassing for some, but it was a good lesson,” said Deputy Hallberg.
Hallberg said he especially enjoyed the questions that the students put in the “D.A.R.E. Share” box. He said kids could ask anything and sometimes there were questions about why he became a police officer or about his Taser. “But sometimes there were serious questions about drugs or alcohol.”
Deputy Ben Hallberg with the winners of the D.A.R.E. essay contest winners. Malin Anderson (left) and Noah Furcht summed up what they learned in D.A.R.E. and its decision-making model in their essays which they read in front of the D.A.R.E. graduation audience. They received D.A.R.E. medals and their own Darren the D.A.R.E. lion mascots.
Another enjoyable aspect of teaching D.A.R.E. is the end of the year essays, said Hallberg. He said all of the students did a great job and he had a hard time picking the two best essays. This year’s top two were written by Noah Furcht and Malin Anderson, who received D.A.R.E. medals and a Darren the D.A.R.E. lion mascot. They each took a turn at the microphone to read their essays. They both spoke about the D.A.R.E. decision-making model and how they would use it.
Malin summed up her essay by saying, “Dare to be you, dare to say no!”
Hallberg introduced guest speaker Deputy Leif Lunde who recalled his days of teaching D.A.R.E., which he did until his son completed the program. “I wanted to pass it to Ben, to someone who has kids. But you know what? I miss it.”
Lunde said some question the effectiveness of the D.A.R.E. program. “With D.A.R.E. you help people. Maybe some years it’s just one person and people may say what difference does it make. But if you help that person, you help them, their parents, their sisters or brothers, their friends. Drugs hurt more than the person using them,” he said.
Lunde shared a very sad poem written by someone who ended up in jail because of her drug use. “I don’t want that to happen to you,” he told the students. “I think the best way to stop the drug problem is through education.”
Lunde congratulated the fifth-graders for completing D.A.R.E. and he then assisted Hallberg in handing out the D.A.R.E. certificates.
Congratulations to all the D.A.R.E. graduates!
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