GRAND MEADOW – Drug Abuse Resistance Education – or DARE – classes of 2001 are graduating.

Tuesday, March 13, 2001

GRAND MEADOW – Drug Abuse Resistance Education – or DARE – classes of 2001 are graduating.

The fifth- and sixth-graders have completed 17 weeks of education, training, role-playing and just plain fun.

The DARE class of 2001 will be the last of its kind. Future DARE graduates will see a new curriculum as the largest and most successful program of its kind attempts to become more relevant.

The Austin Police Department operates its own DARE program for the schools within the Austin city limits.

For all other schools in Mower County, the Mower County Sheriff’s Department holds DARE classes during the school year. This year, 160 preteens completed the course work.

One such DARE graduation exercise was held March 1 at Grand Meadow Public Schools.

Barry Reburn, a sheriff’s deputy, is the DARE officer for the Mower County Sheriff’s Department. Reburn, who lives with his wife and their family in LeRoy, visits public and private schools in the county for the hour-a-week classes.

On DARE graduation night at Grand Meadow, he was joined by Detective Mark May and Chief Deputy Terese Amazi. The trio congratulated the DARE graduates and encouraged their parents and other family members to reinforcement the DARE message at home.

While other school districts offer DARE classes to fifth-graders, the Grand Meadow program targets sixth-graders.

The students were escorted by their teacher, Ward Brossoit. They included Abby Alden, Anthony Bloom, Lauryn Casady, Brian Chavez, Brian Churchill, Lindsey Eilefson, Jessica Ernster, Alyx Falck, Kory Faulhaber, Rebecca Frein, Michealle Fuller, Tyler Guy, Ethan Hanken, Blake, Knutson, Molly Nielsen, Eric Petzel, Cassidy Ptacek, Lance Sorenson, Christine Stier, Rebecca Stier, Kody Swanson, Angela Sween and Tyler Weelborg.

Four skits were performed by students to illustrate peer pressure and other situations where youths must make smart decisions.

Angela Sween was honored for submitting the third-place entry in the DARE poster contest.

DARE role models, Grand Meadow High School juniors and seniors who completed the DARE program when they were sixth-graders, were present to assist the three law enforcement officers.

The GMHS DARE role models included Maria Batt, Mike Batt, Dillon Denisen, Adrienne Sween, Jessica Edge, Tim Fay, Brian Gehling, Lisa Wolf and Justine Vogt.

Grand Meadow Principal David Stadum extended congratulations for schools Superintendent Bruce Klaehn and other school officials, including the Grand Meadow Board of Education.

Amazi, the DARE commencement speaker, told how she worked as a narcotics investigator during her law enforcement career.

"I saw the read bad side of drug use," Amazi told the students and guests.

Amazi kept her commencement address short and borrowed a familiar phrase from former first lady Nancy Reagan: "Don’t do drugs," the deputy told the students.

Several students read essays they wrote on the DARE program and its message to children and teen-agers.

Even the DARE commencement programs contained a personal message. "One Bad Drug Will Make You One Bad Thug" was the caption for a hand-drawn sketch on the commencement program.

Just like any other commencement, awards were memories of the 2000-2001 school year’s DARE classes were shared, diplomas presented and pictures taken.

At this commencement, even the parents received gifts. All of them were given "Proud parent of a DARE graduate" bumper stickers by the Sheriff’s Department representatives.

DARE is the largest substance-abuse prevention program in America.

Since its start in 1983 by the Los Angeles Police Department, DARE has become a classroom presence in all 50 states and more than 36 million students in 80 percent of the nation’s school districts.

Next year, the DARE curriculum will change. A major revamping is being funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation at a price-tag of $13.7 million.

The new and improved DARE curriculum will debut in 90 high schools and 176 middle schools in the 2001-2002 school year.

The new curriculum is expected to break from the current "just-say-no-to-drugs" message and target an older audience of students.

However, police officers, all trained and certified to teach the DARE curriculum, will continue in their roles to show the students responsible, caring adults, the deputies and police officers teaching DARE, are interested in the youths.

Reburn said he believes the DARE program is a "positive thing" and should continue.

"I think it is a very positive thing that develops relationships with youths and police. It breaks down a lot of barriers for law enforcement officers," he said.

Reburn also said he looks forward to implementing the new DARE curriculum.

"The current curriculum is old by today’s educational standards," he said. "It’s just a matter of time. It worked well, but now it has to be revamped."

Reburn also praised DARE for helping the families of students.

"We open doors," he said. "It’s rare, but once in awhile we get approached by a student in a troubled home. The DARE classes have helped us develop a rapport and that will help us to help that family."

A handful of the GMHS DARE role models agreed with Reburn’s observations.

Jessica Edge, Adrienne Sween, Brian Gehling, Tim Fay, Lisa Wolff and James Kahl all said today’s youths, even in a small rural Minnesota school district, are tempted by drugs and alcohol.

"It’s there. It seems like everyone does it or say they are doing it, so you have to be prepared to make a smarter decision," Edge said as her classmates nodded their agreement.

Sixth-grade teacher Brossoit said the weekly DARE classes became "one of the more popular" events in the school year and that Grand Meadow teachers fully supported giving up the class time for 17 weeks.

"I think it helps give them a greater awareness of the world around them," Brossoit said. "We may think we are pretty isolated here in rural Minnesota, but we can’t close our eyes. With the DARE training, they are better able to handle situations that all teen-agers face."

Brossoit also praised the GMHS DARE role models, saying their visits to the sixth-graders’ classroom and the interaction between upper classmen and the preteens was an "eye-opening experience" for the students.

Call Lee Bonorden at 434-2232 or e-mail him at newsroom@austindailyherald.com.