By Anderson County Sheriff’s Department Deputy Mark Whaley
The 2013/2014 Anderson County Sheriff’s Department Drug Abuse Resistance Education Program finished its instruction at the end of the school year. A total of 395 students successfully completed the curriculum. Each student earned a certificate of completion and was awarded a special D.A.R.E. T-shirt as an award.
For the first time, we were asked to start D.A.R.E. classes at the Clinch River Community School, where we introduced the program to the fifth and sixth grade students. The primary focus of this year’s D.A.R.E. classes was peer pressure and how important it is to make good choices.
Again this year, Chief Jim Shetterly and the Lake City Police Department bought T-shirts and awards for Lake City, Dutch Valley, and Briceville elementary schools. The Anderson County Sheriff’s Department D.A.R.E. Program also received donations from throughout the county, including area businesses, to help purchase student workbooks, T-shirts, and essay awards. Stephanie Strutner and Michael Foster with Allies For Substance Abuse Prevention Of Anderson County, along with Kim Guinn with Anderson County Coordinated School Health program, also sponsored a trip to the Tennessee Smokies Drug Free Day at Smokies Park.
D.A.R.E. began in 1983 and is a collaborative program in which local law enforcement and local schools join together to educate students about the personal and social consequences of substance abuse and violence. It is taught in more than 75 percent of our nation’s school districts and 43 countries around the world.
The Anderson County Sheriff’s Department is proud to partner with the Anderson County Schools and the Board of Education in providing these important lessons in resisting drugs and violence to our youth.
For more information on D.A.R.E., please visit www.dare.com.
Leave a Reply