submitted by Toni Dolan
Berlin Elementary fifth grade students recently celebrated their involvement in the D.A.R.E. Program with a special graduation ceremony. The D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) is a program for teaching kids the skills necessary to avoid involvement in drugs, gangs and violence. The program was founded in 1983 in Los Angeles and has been part of our elementary program for about 18 years.
The students met with Deputy Phelps once a week from September to January to discuss broad ranges of topics such as the dangers of drug, tobacco and alcohol use, making responsible choices, bullying, internet safety, healthy peer relationships and, most importantly, how to make informed and healthy choices for themselves. Students were also shown the effects of smoking on lungs through a partnership with the HVCC Respiratory Care Department and the effects on an individual person and his or her family with a presentation from Hope House residents. The Berlin Central School District is proud to partner with the Rensselaer County Sheriff’s Department each year to provide this high quality programming to our fifth grade students.
