D.A.R.E graduations held across Comal ISD
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Fifth-grade students, not only at Morningside, but at elementary campuses across Comal ISD spent the week graduating from the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) program.
During the course of each 12-week program, taught to Comal ISD fifth graders each year since the 1980s, D.A.R.E. officers stress the importance of making healthy decisions and choosing friends wisely, and the dangers of tobacco, marijuana, alcohol, bullying and peer pressure.
Students meet one hour per week for D.A.R.E classes during the program.
When first-year D.A.R.E. officer Homero Balderas, a Comal County Sheriff’s deputy, asked Morningside Elementary students what day it was shortly before the graduation ceremony began, they shouted in unison, “It’s D.A.R.E. day!”
“This is very exciting,” Balderas said. “It makes it all worth while. That’s what we’re here for – to see kids start this program and finish it.”
Comal ISD Sheriff’s Department Capt. Ed Witson has seen the D.A.R.E. program grow through the years.
“It seems to get bigger and better every school year,” Witson said. “It’s a great program. We see students coming back to us many years down the road, young men and women who are now working and doing well in the community, telling us how much they appreciated the D.A.R.E. program.”
D.A.R.E. was founded in 1983 in Los Angeles and is now implemented in 75 percent of the school districts in the U.S. and 43 countries worldwide.
The D.A.R.E. curriculum is designed to be taught by police officers whose training and experience gives them the background needed to answer the sophisticated questions often posed by young students.
The program’s goal is to give children the skills needed to recognize and resist the subtle and overt pressures that cause them to experiment with drugs or become involved in gangs or violent activities.
Balderas’ teaching methods have certainly impressed MES’ teachers.
“He truly respects the kids, and that shows up in the classroom,” said MES fifth-grade teacher Madonna Binney. “He gave the students a solid foundation to make good decisions if a friend or family member is ever using drugs.”
“We really want to thank Officer Balderas,” said MES fifth-grader J.C. Sanchez. “A lot of people on this campus respect him.
