Buckskin fifth-graders recently celebrated their achievements in the DARE program with a graduation followed by a pizza party.
The Drug Abuse Resistance Education program, more commonly known as DARE, is taught over a period of 12 weeks, though that time period was stretched a bit this year because of the snow days. At Buckskin Elementary, the program is presented through the Ross County Sheriff’s Office and the class is taught by deputy Tracy Pinkerton.
Over the course of the program, students learned about risky situations, to make safe and responsible decisions, how to respond to peer pressure, appropriate communication with friends and adults, bullying, and risk factors associated with substance abuse — all valuable lessons to apply in life and that encourage youth to make safe and smart decisions.
Throughout the program, students work in a notebook and at the end they each compose an essay about what they have learned. Those essays are evaluated by Pinkerton’s co-workers and a winner is chosen from each fifth grade class. There are two fifth grade classes at Buckskin, but there was a tie in one of the classes, so this year there were three essay winners recognized during the program graduation: Brooklyn Bolender, Izzy Clevenger and Jacklyn Weinrich.
Submitted by Greenfield School District.
