D.A.R.E.
Hello, my name is Scott R. Evans and I am a Deputy
Sheriff and I am also the D.A.R.E. officer for the County of Auglaize. I would like
to welcome you to the D.A.R.E. web page. Since you are here, I guess you might want
to know a little bit about the D.A.R.E. program.
First let me tell you that
D.A.R.E. has gone through some major, but exciting changes. In the fall of 2004,
Auglaize County, along with every D.A.R.E. program around the world, will be conducting
the new D.A.R.E. curriculum aimed at helping students make better decisions. in this
new curriculum the D.A.R.E. Officer becomes more of a facilitator, getting the students to
talk and think more. Instead of the classes being for 17 weeks, the curriculum has
been reduced to 10-12 weeks. The class is still the same, which is 45 minutes, once
a week.
D.A.R.E. is an acronym that stands
for Drug Abuse Resistance Education. It was started in 1983 by Chief Gates of the
Los Angeles Police Department. Since then it has spread worldwide. D.A.R.E.
has become the premier drug prevention program in the world. It is in all 50 states
and 55 different countries. If you would like to click on the D.A.R.E. America link,
it will tell you more about the D.A.R.E. program.
The D.A.R.E. program in Auglaize County started in St.Marys in January of 1991, in
the fall of 1994 the program went county wide, into all 6 school districts (St.Marys,
Wapakoneta, New Bremen, Minster, New Knoxville and Waynesfield). The program is also
being done at Holy Rosary School in St.Marys, St.Joe School in Wapakoneta, and the Grand
Lake Christian School in New Bremen.
In Auglaize County we target the
5th. graders with the idea to get to those children before they start experimenting with
drugs. Unfortunately this, in some cases, is not early enough. Some children
have already been introduced to drugs whether by their parents, relatives, or by friends.
Even though we target the 5th. grade, the D.A.R.E. program also works with the 4th.
graders.
The D.A.R.E. program in Auglaize
County changes to the G.R.E.A.T. (Gang Resistance Education And Training) program in the
8th. grade. The idea is to reinforce the values and skills they learned in the 4th.
and 5th. grade.
The G.R.E.A.T. program talks about
decision making, responsibility, goal setting, drugs, conflict resolution, and many more
valuable lessons. With this program we have incorporated a curriculum put out by
Time Warner Cable called "Choices and Consequences". In this exciting
curriculum we talk about actual court cases of juveniles who have made poor choices.
The students realize that poor choice upon poor choice can have a pretty major
outcome.
In the Wapakoneta School district
once the student reaches the 6th., or 7th. grade they may try and join D.A.R.E. Council,
which is a group of students wishing to continue their education on their own and pass it
on to other students. This program was started by Brittany Schaub, a D.A.R.E. Essay
Winner, who wanted to continue D.A.R.E., which was not available at that time for her
grade. So she and some other students formed the D.A.R.E. Council. The Council
is now in charge of Red Ribbon Week, S.T.R.I.D.E. day and to get information out
throughout the year about the dangers of drug use at that school.
Hopefully you have found this
information useful. If you have any further questions or if I can be of any
assistance please feel free to call me at 419-739-6565, or you can e-mail me at sevans@auglaizecounty.org .
Thank you,
Sincerely
Scott R. Evans
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