LIHU‘E — Parents, teachers, police and others all care that the island’s fifth-graders, most of whom will be moving to middle schools in August, remain drug-free, said Bill Arakaki, state Department of Education Kaua‘i superintendent. He was addressing around 700
LIHU‘E — Parents, teachers, police and others all care that the island’s fifth-graders, most of whom will be moving to middle schools in August, remain drug-free, said Bill Arakaki, state Department of Education Kaua‘i superintendent.
He was addressing around 700 fifth-grade students from public, private and charter schools gathered at the Kaua‘i War Memorial Convention Hall to celebrate their graduation from the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) program.
We are all one team, one island, said Arakaki at the DARE Day event Tuesday.
“It is important that you carry these messages to other schools,” Arakaki said. “Take to heart all the messages you have learned.”
DARE is a series of classroom lessons taught by Kaua‘i Police Department officers for students from kindergarten through 12th grade.
The DARE program is for elementary-school students, and the Gang Resistance Education And Training program, GREAT, is for middle-school students.
The DARE program is more than just drug-prevention education. It teaches students good decision-making skills to help them avoid high-risk behavior and ensure they grow up healthy, safe and secure, said Arakaki.
“We all care about you,” said Arakaki. “Your parents, teachers, everyone cares about you. The mayor, (KPD) Chief (Darryl) Perry, the officers all care and make this possible for you.”
On Kaua‘i, the DARE program is led by KPD Sgt. Ken Carvalho, officers Mark Ozaki, Luke Hamberg and Norberto Garcia, all of the officers getting lei of appreciation from the schools and classes they work with throughout the year and whoops of appreciation as they were presented lei by Miss Kaua‘i and Miss Garden Isle.
“I want to thank you all for helping the police fight drugs in your community,” said Perry, extracting reactions from the students as he mimicked the antics of the Kapa‘a Jr. ROTC cadets with help from master of ceremonies Alan Silva in doing rifle exercises with no rifle.
The DARE Day celebration is the culmination of a year-long program of student learning led by KPD officers and other DARE instructors and allows the students an opportunity to enjoy the day with an abundance of cheer, entertainment and premiums, Darren the DARE mascot being instrumental in getting premium tickets out to the students and getting them enthused about the events taking place inside the convention hall.
DARE was founded in 1983 in Los Angeles and is now implemented in 75 percent of the nation’s school districts and in more than 43 countries around the world.
Kaua‘i’s gathering pooled students from all of the public, private and charter schools with sponsorship from the Big Save stores, the Rotary Club of Po‘ipu Beach, KPD’s We Are The Children’s Hope DARE Or GREAT Section (WATCHDOGS), the Kaua‘i Community Federal Credit Union and County of Kaua‘i.
Visit www.dare.com for more information.
• Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) or dfujimoto@kauaipubco.com.
