Pubdate: Thu, 30 Dec 2004
Source: Home News Tribune (NJ)
Copyright: 2004 Home News Tribune
Contact:  http://www.thnt.com/hnt/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/825
Author: Peter N. Spencer
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/dare.htm (D.A.R.E.)

ANTI-DRUG MESSAGE EVERY DAY OF THE YEAR

SOMERSET COUNTY - Zach Horton, a fifth-grader at St. Elizabeth School
in Bernardsville, said he wants to be a writer when he grows up.

His first published work was revealed yesterday -- the cover of the
Somerset County Prosecutor's Office 2005 Anti-Drug Calendar.

Horton was one of 12 fifth- and sixth-grade students who were
recognized for their posters, featured in each calendar month, at a
brief ceremony at the Somerset County Prosecutor's Office.

The students were asked to draw posters reflecting anti-substance
abuse and anti-violence messages and reinforce what they learned in
the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program, commonly known as DARE.

The 11-year-old's message was as simple and direct as the lessons he
was taught by his school's DARE officer.

"I just touched on the four points that were stressed in the
decision-making process: Define, Assess, Respond and Evaluate," Horton
said.

For his grand prize-winning entry, Horton received a $500 savings bond
from the Somerset County Chiefs of Police Association. Eleven other
winners received bonds ranging from $100 to $500.

Now in its seventh year, the calendar contest is one of the of
highlights the countywide DARE program, which stresses education and
early-intervention as the keys to solving community drug problems.

>From the thousands of entries submitted by 77 county middle schools,
each municipal police department chose at least five winning pictures
per school. Those winners were then whittled down to 12 by a panel of
judges. The $8,000 it costs to print the 7,000 calendars comes from
money forfeited by convicted drug dealers.

Calendars will be provided to all fifth-grade students and will be
distributed to public libraries, municipal buildings and police
departments, as well as to those contacting the prosecutor's office.

Somerset County Prosecutor Wayne J. Forrest said the DARE program,
which began in 1989, is a "tremendous success" because people involved
at all levels -- from parents and police officers to teachers and
students -- constantly reinforce the anti-drug message.

"They go through the DARE program and hear the same message throughout
their entire school experience," he said.

There is at least one DARE officer in each middle school, and a
resource officer at most high schools, Forrest said. Their constant
presence is all part of an effort to extend community policing beyond
the community.

"In the old days, the only time you encountered a police officer was
when you got pulled over or when there was some emergency. Nowadays,
they're meeting with police in a positive way," Forrest added.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin