Parents and family came to Racette School to watch Grade 6 classes graduate from the RCMP DARE program on Thursday.
“They are getting into that age in junior and senior high where we know that the pressures are there for the use of drugs and alcohol. We want them to have those tools in their toolboxes and that knowledge of the way they can deal with things as they come up,” said Principal Susan Kotowich-Dubrule after graduation. “It’s a very valuable program to us.”
DARE stands for Drug Abuse Resistance Education and consisted of 10 classes for each Grade 6 class at Racette. The classes aims to discourage abusing drugs or alcohol, and covers other topics like bullying and peer pressure.
English teacher Sharon Kotowich and French teacher Jocelyne Chamberland liaised with a team of four RCMP officers, who taught the classes and commended students at the graduation ceremony.
“It’s a co-operation between the schools and the RCMP to teach kids that there are positives to not getting involved in that stuff,” said Cst. Tammy Protasiwich, a former teacher, before the grad ceremony.
While peer pressure can be used negatively, it can also be positive, Protasiwich explained. “You can have your friends pressure you to not do drugs and not to drink and not to smoke.”
Another perk of the program is that students see RCMP as people and not just officers, she added. “It helps build that bridge in the community.”
Racette is the last and largest group in St. Paul and area to graduate this year.
“We find that kids that take DARE will give us some really good feedback. They love it.”
DARE started in 1983 in the U.S. and has since been implemented in 43 countries, according to the DARE website.
