Medina
The Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Office has announced the addition of two Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) instructors, deputies Nicholi Burkholder and Max Medina. Their addition will double the number of instructors in the Sheriff’s Office DARE program, as they join Sgt. Andrew Whipker and School Resource Officer Jessica Pendleton, who had been the department’s only DARE instructors.
Both Medina and Burkholder were selected by an interview panel consisting of Whipker, Pendleton, Angie Ginder, a sixth-grade teacher at Rockcreek Elementary School and Andy Kilps, pastor at Hope Moravian Church. Both deputies will attend DARE instructor training this summer and will begin instructing DARE lessons during the fall semester.
“The DARE program is a cornerstone of the relationship between law enforcement and the community’s youth,” Sheriff Chris Lane said. “The addition of these two deputies will continue to strengthen the Sheriff’s Office DARE program, which serves students throughout Bartholomew County. These two deputies are excellent choices for this program — they are both fathers and hardworking members of the sheriff’s office.”
The DARE program was founded in 1983 as a law enforcement-led series of classroom lessons that teach students good decision-making skills in order for them to lead safe and healthy lives.
