2005 DARE Culmination

By Susan Coney

The 2005 DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) Culmination Ceremony was recently held in a two-night award ceremony. Due to the large number of fifth graders enrolled at Reed Intermediate School the ceremony had to be presented on two separate nights, Wednesday, June 1, and Thursday, June 2, in the RIS cafetorium.

DARE Officer Dana Schubert was in charge of presenting the fifth graders with certificates of completion of the course, which is dedicated to providing students with information so that they may lead a healthier, safer life.

First Selectman Herb Rosenthal spoke to the students, commending them on their efforts at the 15th DARE Culmination Ceremony to take place in Newtown. Mr Rosenthal commented, “It is a highlight for me to come here tonight. I compliment all students who have gone through the program. The lessons you have learned will be good strategies for the rest of your life to help you deal with peer pressure. You learn in the DARE Program what is the right thing to do, not the popular thing.”

As part of the DARE Program, each fifth grade student was required to write an essay about what the program had taught him or her. Representative essays were chosen and read by the students at the ceremony.

Families attending the DARE Culmination were treated to music performed by The Reed Intermediate Chamber Orchestra, under the direction of Mardi Smith.