It was a night where sixth graders made peace officers feel like rock stars.
Screams of admiration echoed throughout the Columbus North gymnasium during the 25th anniversary celebration of Bartholomew County’s DARE program.
As more than 800 people watched on Monday, loud expressions of support emerged from students as 10 current officers who teach DARE’s anti-substance-abuse curriculum in the Columbus area stood to be recognized.
But no other past or current Bartholomew County DARE instructor commanded the widespread admiration of students and adults as did Pat Bryant, an officer from the founding group 25 years ago and the longest serving of any local instructor.
[sc:text-divider text-divider-title=”Story continues below gallery” ]
“This program means a lot — not just to a few, but to the whole community,” said Bryant, currently a Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp. school board member. “In some way, it touches everyone who comes through it. Ladies and gentlemen, there just isn’t any better program out there.”
About 1,300 students entering middle school age go through the 10-week DARE program each year in area schools.
Aditya Mohan, a sixth-grade DARE graduate, said fellow students benefit from unique storytelling techniques officers use in explaining consequences of drug and alcohol use.
“They’ve got great officers who tell many great stories,” said Aditya, a Parkside Elementary student, honored as one of this year’s DARE essay winners.
One unusual teaching technique involves having students sing a song as they move around their classroom, said Caroline Cross, another essay winner from Richards Elementary School.
Besides teaching students to make wise and healthy choices regarding substance abuse, DARE also teaches other matters of importance, BCSC Superintendent Jim Roberts told the crowd.
The curriculum helps children develop lifelong skills involving the building of trusting relationships and showing respect for others, Roberts said. It has also served as a model for other local programs such as High School Heroes and Communities That Care, the superintendent said.
“The importance of DARE cannot be overstated, from either the standpoint of the individual student to the collective benefit of the entire community,” Roberts said.
But in a warning perhaps best understood by adults, Larry Perkinson, student assistance coordinator for the Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp. told the young DARE graduates their biggest challenges lie ahead.
While expressing his satisfaction with the level of enthusiasm in the gym, Perkinson acknowledged the local high rate of alcohol and drug abuse, as well as suicide rates among young people.
He warned the sixth graders there will likely be some mornings ahead when they wake up without any hope that they will make it through one of life’s challenges.
“That’s going to take every bit of fellowship you have here tonight,” Perkinson said. “It’s going to take your friends and your families to get you through it. We have a lot of work to do.”
Besides Bryant, the other two founding instructors of the Bartholomew County DARE program were also honored.
Retired law enforcement administrator Rob Kittle said no one would have forecast 25 years ago that the local DARE program would grow to the level it has today.
All officers who have taught the curriculum for the past quarter century are responsible for its success, Kittle said.
Jim Norris described his participation in the DARE program as one of the most rewarding duties of his law enforcement career.
“DARE gives young people a background to stand on when they are confronted with drugs,” said Norris, who retired from law enforcement to become the city’s public safety director during the administration of former Mayor Fred Armstrong.
Besides the serious messages of the evening, the night also had its light moments.
As students entered the gym, many paused to have their picture taken with Safety Pup, the nationally recognized mascot for the National Child Safety Council, portrayed locally this year by Columbus Police officer James Scott.
What most people don’t know is that the person chosen to don the extremely warm dog costume isn’t actually a volunteer, Police Chief Jon Rohde said.
Instead, Safety Pup is portrayed by whoever sustains the biggest losses in a fantasy football league organized by several law officers, he said.
[sc:pullout-title pullout-title=”DARE officers” ][sc:pullout-text-begin]
Current DARE officers and their time teaching the program:
Columbus Police Department
- Lt. Matt Harris, 16 years
- Sgt. Steve Long, 11 years
- Officer Eric Kapczynski, 11 years
- Officer Zach Wright, 6 years
- Officer Bernard Sims, 6 years
- Officer Clayton Nolting, 4 years
- Sgt. Alyson Rech, 4 years
- Officer Tony Kummer, scheduled to attend DARE training in June
- Officer Marcus Clark, scheduled to attend DARE training in June
- Officer Casey Kendrick, scheduled to attend DARE training in June
Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department
- Deputy Jessica Pendleton, 3 years
[sc:pullout-text-end][sc:pullout-title pullout-title=”About DARE” ][sc:pullout-text-begin]
When launched in the 1980s, DARE was known as Drug Abuse Resistance Education, later dropping the full name.
The DARE program provides instruction to prevent drug abuse by developing basic, core skills needed for safe and responsible choices — skills that extend well beyond drugs to healthy and mature choices in life.
The curriculum, designed based on the Socio-Emotional Learning Theory (SEL), identifies fundamental, basic skills and developmental processes needed for healthy development including:
- Self-awareness and management
- Responsible decision making
- Understanding others
- Relationship and communication skills
- Handling responsibilities and challenges
DARE teaches youth to control their impulses and think about risks and consequences resulting in more responsible choices. DARE believes that if you can teach youth to make safe and responsible decisions, it will guide them to healthy choices, not only about drugs, but across all parts of their lives. As they grow to be responsible citizens, they will lead healthier and more productive drug-free lives.
To learn more about DARE, visit dare.org
Source: DARE
[sc:pullout-text-end]
