Police, Teachers Commend St Rose DARE Graduates

By Jeff White

St Rose fifth graders came to the end of a long road last week, as they received rightful recognition for completing the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) program offered to local children by the police department.

The culmination of the 17-week program came during graduation ceremonies May 4, as the 26 students in Shirley Towne’s fifth grade class sat attentively in St Rose’s parish hall and listened to an assortment of speakers comment on their accomplishment.

“Well, this is it,” said school Principal Donna DeLuca in her comments to students. Although Mrs DeLuca offered heartfelt congratulations to the fifth grade, she cautioned that the completion of the DARE program was really only the first step in the long battle ahead. “Do you think this is the end of your substance abuse training?” she asked. “No, it is only the beginning.”

Mrs DeLuca went on to say that the pressure to abuse substances that many students stood to face in the future would most likely come from friends, not strangers.

It is with this reality in mind that the DARE program implemented throughout Newtown schools places a considerable emphasis on training students to develop self-esteem to resist peer group pressure to abuse drugs, alcohol, and cigarettes. The program favors real-life lessons over traditional lectures against the vices of substances.

It was evident last Thursday that the DARE message was received loud and clear by the graduates.

“The DARE program has helped me to understand more about drugs, alcohol, and violence,” wrote Bradley Reeser in his DARE essay, which was chosen as one of the two best essays written by St Rose DARE graduates. “I feel sorry for people who are hooked on things like pot, cigarettes, and alcohol. Most of the time these things either ruin futures or kill people that take them.”

As he read his essay, Bradley received a booming ovation as he explained how participating in the program cultivated his love of medicine and helping people. He said he hoped to put both of these interests to work as a doctor, helping all people in need.

Police Detective Robert Tvardzik, who runs the DARE program at St Rose School, also received recognition for his efforts over the years in establishing the program in the parochial school. Over the past 17 weeks, Det Tvardzik made a regular weekly stop at St Rose, where he not only conducted the DARE program to the school’s fifth grade, but made the effort to spend “hang out” time with the students, playing basketball and eating lunch.

According to Shirley Towne, who has been involved with the DARE program for the past eight years, the purpose of having the detective spending leisure time with her students is to teach students that a police officer can be a valuable friend. She said that fifth grade students are at a perfect age to make the most out of the DARE program.

“They are young enough to be appreciative, and old enough not to be embarrassed to share their feelings,” she said.

Det Tvardzik has worked with Mrs Towne for the past four years, though Mrs Towne mused that it seemed much longer.

“Detective [Tvardzik] has been a good role model for us,” wrote Ally Kirk, the second standout essayist. “He taught us all how to say no to peer pressure, whether your stress level goes up or down, about self-esteem, and about how to stay away from gangs and other bad people.”

In his remarks, Det Tvardzik commended the students for their hard work, and pointed out that their meetings were not solely about drugs and alcohol. “We just didn’t talk about drugs, we learned about life,” he said. “We talked a lot about life, we talked a lot about lessons.”

And the lessons these students took away from the DARE program will stay with them much longer than the DARE tee shirts they donned during the ceremony, as they prepare to enter the challenging middle school years of sixth, seventh, and eighth grades.

Joining Mrs DeLucia, Mrs Towne, and Det Tvardzik were a handful of parents, the police department’s youth officer Dana Schubert, and other St Rose faculty and staff.