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The DARE program is sponsored by the Coffee County Sheriff's Department. Sheriff's deputy, C.J.Jones, meets with each fifth grade classroom every Monday for 17 weeks. She teaches facts about drugs and alcohol, what they can do to you, and how to deal with real-life situations these students may face in the immediate future when other students or adults may try to get them to "just try it". Students take part in role-playing skits, and one day actual positive role models from Coffee High talk to them about how and why they need to resist drugs and alcohol. Students always have the opportunity to ask Ms. C.J. questions, and they don't hesitate to take advantage of the situation.
At the end of the program, there is a countywide graduation for all fifth graders who have passed the DARE course. The different schools often sing or put on a skit, and the high school role models do something special. Everybody wears an identical DARE shirt, so it looks like a sea of look-alikes in the Central Square gymnasium as students listen attentively to the speeches and receive their certificates. There are also essays written about "What DARE Means to Me". |
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