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Daring to learn
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| WMS Dean of Students Mike Patterson distributes 'Daren the Lion' mascots to DARE students of the year Anna K. Garcia, Nicholas Clement, Norma Saldate, and Mariana Barron (not shown) at last week's graduation. (Carol Broeder/ARN) |
After 10 years, DARE makes a comeback in Willcox
By Carol Broeder/Arizona Range News
After 10 years, the D.A.R.E. program has returned to Willcox under the leadership of School Resource Officer Rose Lacey.
The D.A.R.E. Culmination Ceremony was held for sixth graders at the Willcox Middle School on Thursday, May 14.
D.A.R.E, which stands for Drug Abuse Resistance Education, is a program that gives kids the skills they need to avoid involvement in drugs, gangs, and violence.
It was founded in Los Angeles in 1983 and has proven so successful that it is now being implemented in 75 percent of the nation's school districts and in more than 43 countries around the world.
"I became a D.A.R.E. officer in 1990," said Lacey, who has been in law enforcement for 21 years. "Since then, I have traveled all over the world training D.A.R.E. officers."
D.A.R.E. is a police officer-led series of classroom lessons that teaches children from kindergarten through 12th grade how to resist peer pressure and live productive drug- and violence-free lives.
"You're at a time if your life when you can begin to make choices as to what is good for you in life and what is not good for you in life," WMS Principal Doris Jones told the D.A.R.E. graduates.
"I want you all to know that doing the right thing is always the right thing to do," she said.
Making the right decisions was a recurring theme among the guest speakers that afternoon.
"D.A.R.E. has given you the foundation and the ability to be leaders in your school, your family, and your community," said Dr. Dawn Walker.
"You have received the tools that will allow for you to make life-long decisions," she said. "Life is a result of our ability to make safe, well-thought-out decisions. Your future success, or your failure, starts now with your ability to make these decisions."
Walker talked about the tragedy of losing her favorite uncle to drug abuse when she was just a little girl.
When she visited her Uncle Timmy, their Sunday routine was to take a big brown paper bag full of popcorn and drive to the park in his sports car. It was time she treasured.
"The unfortunate reality was that my Uncle Timmy did not have self-respect nor the education you have received from D.A.R.E.," Walker told the sixth graders. "He made the choice to use drugs. He used drugs and late one night he was in a car accident."
"In that same sports car he would take me to the park in, he made that fateful decision to use drugs and drive," Walker said. "He lost control, ran into a guard rail which pierced through that sports car and pierced into him and instantly killed him. I was seven the last time I saw my favorite Uncle Timmy...at his funeral."
Walker also talked about a girl who was her best friend in the sixth grade, and they did everything together.
"The world was ours," she said. "We shared our dreams."
Walker's friend wanted to become a business administrator, while she wanted to become a doctor.
The two friends attended the same high school and as freshmen, went to their first high school football game together.
"While sitting next to me, she leaned over and said, 'Smell this, good stuff isn't it?'" said Walker, adding that at that moment, she accepted that her friend had lost respect for herself," but more importantly she lost respect for me."
"I was not going to be associated with someone who did drugs," she told the D.A.R.E. graduates. "When you are around those that do drugs, even if you don't use them, everyone else will assume that you use drugs."
At that moment, Walker left her friend, and never spoke to her again until their graduation day.
"She apologized to me for getting herself into drugs," she said. "The apology was appreciated, but her life decisions had already been made."
Walker said that even though her friend "was probably the smartest person I ever went to school with, she was not smart enough to not start drugs."
"Her involvement with drugs affected her grades and she could not get into the college of her choice," said Walker, adding that she even had difficulty once in college.
At their 10-year high school reunion, the friend was still struggling both in school and in her personal life.
"Her choice to start drugs at age 14 affected her future ability to succeed," she said.
"I did stay drug-free, persevered in school, and met my goal of becoming a doctor," said Walker, adding that as such, she sees the effects of drugs and alcohol every day.
"I see how the choices they make when they are in sixth grade, 16 years old, or 25 years old will affect them forever," she said.
Walker said she has seen the hurt in a parent's eyes when they have to remove a child from their home and place them in drug rehabilitation.
"I know what it feels like to console a parent when their child has accidentally killed himself from a drug overdose," she said. "I have cared for the person who has a brain injury and who will never wake up because they chose to drive a car while intoxicated. Or the victim who chose to ride in a car with an intoxicated driver."
"I have watched as families have lost their homes because the father cannot stay sober enough to maintain his job," Walker said. "I have seen the pain in a little child's eyes when a parent continues to do drugs and the child asks, 'Why doesn't mommy love me enough to stop using drugs?'"
"I do not want to see any of these events happen to you," she said. "With the education you have received from D.A.R.E. and your new found knowledge to make wiser decisions, your risk of harm from drugs has fortunately been decreased."
"Students, life is a matter of choices and how you react to those choices," Walker said. "If you start drugs, I promise you that you will not achieve your fullest potential. If you are around people who use drugs, you will increase the probability of you starting drugs, and others will assume that you do drugs. You must respect yourself first and self-respect means staying drug-free and staying away from those that use drugs."
"Take the messages you have learned from D.A.R.E. to heart and practice them," she said. "Practice them daily. Remember that the decision you make today, effects you tomorrow and your tomorrow is your future."
Mayor Gerald "Sam" Lindsey, also talked to the sixth graders about their future.
"You are the future citizens of this city and nation. You will be the leaders of tomorrow," he said. "This country deserves to have leaders available who have not or do not use illegal drugs. I plead with each of you to keep yourselves clean. Be the man or woman that has the backbone to say no when confronted with drug use."
"Don't throw away your lives for a few fleeting moments," Lindsey said. "I can tell you that I have never used an illegal drug. I hope that each of you can also make that statement when you get to be my age."
Lindsey said there might be some there who have already experimented with drugs.
"If you have, please get help now," he said. "Your school counselors, your parents, Dr. Walker, Mrs. (Sally) White and many others are available to help you."
Chief of Police Jake Weaver also talked about the support available to them in Willcox.
"There is strength in numbers," he said, referring to the more than 80 students who graduated that day
"The more of you who band together, the stronger you are."
Weaver told the students that as they get older, "there will be more peer pressure as you go along. You're always going to have somebody try to get you to do something wrong."
He likened the D.A.R.E. graduates to those currently serving in the military.
"There are very brave men and women defending our country," Weaver said. "In a sense, you are soldiers as well. You are on the front lines out there."
"Remember that there are more good people (good soldiers) than bad people in the world," he said. "We'll all stand behind you."
When it was their turn to speak, the four D.A.R.E. Essay Winners read their winning entries.
"What would you prefer - a good life or a bad life?" asked Keythia Oscar. "Remember, all you've got to say is, 'No.' I want to thank Officer Lacey for teaching me such a valuable lesson."
Nicole Willey said that if someone offered her drugs, "I would leave them in the trash."
"Who would want to do all that nasty stuff?" she said. "Why do people do drugs in the first place? Once you try it, you're addicted to it."
"I will just walk away from them and go somewhere else," said Alexis Durazo.
"We need D.A.R.E. in our lives," said Jonella Hyma. "We need to learn how to stay safe, to be a leader not a follower, and to make better decisions."
By Carol Broeder/Arizona Range News
After 10 years, the D.A.R.E. program has returned to Willcox under the leadership of School Resource Officer Rose Lacey.
The D.A.R.E. Culmination Ceremony was held for sixth graders at the Willcox Middle School on Thursday, May 14.
D.A.R.E, which stands for Drug Abuse Resistance Education, is a program that gives kids the skills they need to avoid involvement in drugs, gangs, and violence.
It was founded in Los Angeles in 1983 and has proven so successful that it is now being implemented in 75 percent of the nation's school districts and in more than 43 countries around the world.
"I became a D.A.R.E. officer in 1990," said Lacey, who has been in law enforcement for 21 years. "Since then, I have traveled all over the world training D.A.R.E. officers."
D.A.R.E. is a police officer-led series of classroom lessons that teaches children from kindergarten through 12th grade how to resist peer pressure and live productive drug- and violence-free lives.
"You're at a time if your life when you can begin to make choices as to what is good for you in life and what is not good for you in life," WMS Principal Doris Jones told the D.A.R.E. graduates.
"I want you all to know that doing the right thing is always the right thing to do," she said.
Making the right decisions was a recurring theme among the guest speakers that afternoon.
"D.A.R.E. has given you the foundation and the ability to be leaders in your school, your family, and your community," said Dr. Dawn Walker.
"You have received the tools that will allow for you to make life-long decisions," she said. "Life is a result of our ability to make safe, well-thought-out decisions. Your future success, or your failure, starts now with your ability to make these decisions."
Walker talked about the tragedy of losing her favorite uncle to drug abuse when she was just a little girl.
When she visited her Uncle Timmy, their Sunday routine was to take a big brown paper bag full of popcorn and drive to the park in his sports car. It was time she treasured.
"The unfortunate reality was that my Uncle Timmy did not have self-respect nor the education you have received from D.A.R.E.," Walker told the sixth graders. "He made the choice to use drugs. He used drugs and late one night he was in a car accident."
"In that same sports car he would take me to the park in, he made that fateful decision to use drugs and drive," Walker said. "He lost control, ran into a guard rail which pierced through that sports car and pierced into him and instantly killed him. I was seven the last time I saw my favorite Uncle Timmy...at his funeral."
Walker also talked about a girl who was her best friend in the sixth grade, and they did everything together.
"The world was ours," she said. "We shared our dreams."
Walker's friend wanted to become a business administrator, while she wanted to become a doctor.
The two friends attended the same high school and as freshmen, went to their first high school football game together.
"While sitting next to me, she leaned over and said, 'Smell this, good stuff isn't it?'" said Walker, adding that at that moment, she accepted that her friend had lost respect for herself," but more importantly she lost respect for me."
"I was not going to be associated with someone who did drugs," she told the D.A.R.E. graduates. "When you are around those that do drugs, even if you don't use them, everyone else will assume that you use drugs."
At that moment, Walker left her friend, and never spoke to her again until their graduation day.
"She apologized to me for getting herself into drugs," she said. "The apology was appreciated, but her life decisions had already been made."
Walker said that even though her friend "was probably the smartest person I ever went to school with, she was not smart enough to not start drugs."
"Her involvement with drugs affected her grades and she could not get into the college of her choice," said Walker, adding that she even had difficulty once in college.
At their 10-year high school reunion, the friend was still struggling both in school and in her personal life.
"Her choice to start drugs at age 14 affected her future ability to succeed," she said.
"I did stay drug-free, persevered in school, and met my goal of becoming a doctor," said Walker, adding that as such, she sees the effects of drugs and alcohol every day.
"I see how the choices they make when they are in sixth grade, 16 years old, or 25 years old will affect them forever," she said.
Walker said she has seen the hurt in a parent's eyes when they have to remove a child from their home and place them in drug rehabilitation.
"I know what it feels like to console a parent when their child has accidentally killed himself from a drug overdose," she said. "I have cared for the person who has a brain injury and who will never wake up because they chose to drive a car while intoxicated. Or the victim who chose to ride in a car with an intoxicated driver."
"I have watched as families have lost their homes because the father cannot stay sober enough to maintain his job," Walker said. "I have seen the pain in a little child's eyes when a parent continues to do drugs and the child asks, 'Why doesn't mommy love me enough to stop using drugs?'"
"I do not want to see any of these events happen to you," she said. "With the education you have received from D.A.R.E. and your new found knowledge to make wiser decisions, your risk of harm from drugs has fortunately been decreased."
"Students, life is a matter of choices and how you react to those choices," Walker said. "If you start drugs, I promise you that you will not achieve your fullest potential. If you are around people who use drugs, you will increase the probability of you starting drugs, and others will assume that you do drugs. You must respect yourself first and self-respect means staying drug-free and staying away from those that use drugs."
"Take the messages you have learned from D.A.R.E. to heart and practice them," she said. "Practice them daily. Remember that the decision you make today, effects you tomorrow and your tomorrow is your future."
Mayor Gerald "Sam" Lindsey, also talked to the sixth graders about their future.
"You are the future citizens of this city and nation. You will be the leaders of tomorrow," he said. "This country deserves to have leaders available who have not or do not use illegal drugs. I plead with each of you to keep yourselves clean. Be the man or woman that has the backbone to say no when confronted with drug use."
"Don't throw away your lives for a few fleeting moments," Lindsey said. "I can tell you that I have never used an illegal drug. I hope that each of you can also make that statement when you get to be my age."
Lindsey said there might be some there who have already experimented with drugs.
"If you have, please get help now," he said. "Your school counselors, your parents, Dr. Walker, Mrs. (Sally) White and many others are available to help you."
Chief of Police Jake Weaver also talked about the support available to them in Willcox.
"There is strength in numbers," he said, referring to the more than 80 students who graduated that day
"The more of you who band together, the stronger you are."
Weaver told the students that as they get older, "there will be more peer pressure as you go along. You're always going to have somebody try to get you to do something wrong."
He likened the D.A.R.E. graduates to those currently serving in the military.
"There are very brave men and women defending our country," Weaver said. "In a sense, you are soldiers as well. You are on the front lines out there."
"Remember that there are more good people (good soldiers) than bad people in the world," he said. "We'll all stand behind you."
When it was their turn to speak, the four D.A.R.E. Essay Winners read their winning entries.
"What would you prefer - a good life or a bad life?" asked Keythia Oscar. "Remember, all you've got to say is, 'No.' I want to thank Officer Lacey for teaching me such a valuable lesson."
Nicole Willey said that if someone offered her drugs, "I would leave them in the trash."
"Who would want to do all that nasty stuff?" she said. "Why do people do drugs in the first place? Once you try it, you're addicted to it."
"I will just walk away from them and go somewhere else," said Alexis Durazo.
"We need D.A.R.E. in our lives," said Jonella Hyma. "We need to learn how to stay safe, to be a leader not a follower, and to make better decisions."
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