Grade 5 students at Dewdney Elementary School are the first DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) graduates this year.
They received a certificate and a T-shirt at a special ceremony last month from RCMP Const. Dale Wagner, who taught the program.
Wagner and Const. Carl Wellwood are Mission’s youth liaison officers and in addition to the work they do in schools, they also teach DARE along with two correctional officers.
Because this is Wagner’s first year as a school liaison officer, the Dewdney group was also his first grad class.
Students learned about tobacco, marijuana, alcohol and inhalants and the effects they have on the body, said Wagner.
“We break down their beliefs of drugs and teach them to say no and walk away,” Wagner added.
Students also learn how to be violence free and a good friend.
“In the end, they can make the best decision.”
In order to graduate, students wrote essays, which some of them shared at the ceremony, and took a pledge to remain violence and drug and alcohol free.