ADAMS TOWNSHIP — Clinton-Massie Resource Officer and D.A.R.E. facilitator Deputy Danny Wood recently led fifth-grade students through several different scenarios, guiding them to solve issues using the D.A.R.E decision-making model.
The model can be summarized by using the four letters that comprise DARE: D — Define the problem; A — Assess the problem (what are your choices/options?); R — Respond; and E — Evaluate your response (did you make a good choice and why?).
The students are invited to write an essay about what they have learned, whether they have used it yet, and how they foresee themselves using what they have learned in the future.
Two essays, one by a girl and one by a boy, were chosen for second place and they each received the 12-inch DARE mascot, Daren the Lion.
The first-place winners, one boy and one girl, received a new bicycle.
All students — 130 this year — received a D.A.R.E. shirt, a backpack and a certificate of completion.
DARE stands for Drug Abuse Resistance Education program.
Clinton-Massie Local Schools staff stated they want to thank Clinton County Sheriff Ralph Fizer Jr. for his support of the D.A.R.E. program, and also many thanks to Clinton County Deputy Wood for his guidance and inspiration.
School officials also thanked the Clinton County Antique Power Club, the Clinton-Massie PTO, and Ahresty Corporation for their donations. A special thanks went out to Walmart for donating six bicycles to Clinton County schools for the D.A.R.E. program’s first-place winners.
D.A.R.E. started in Los Angeles, California in 1983. It is currently taught in over 80 percent of the nation’s schools and in 44 countries around the world.
The D.A.R.E. program was overhauled seven years ago, and is now a 10-week program that covers drug facts for responsible decision-making, risks and consequences, peer pressure, dealing with stressful situations, basics of communication, nonverbal communication and listening, bullying, and helping others.
