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D.A.R.E. Day Celebration gets fifth-graders going
Highlands Today - April 2010
AVON PARK -- With screaming and shouting that would make game show contestants seem docile, Highlands County fifth-graders kicked the annual D.A.R.E Day Celebration into high gear Tuesday in the Theatre for the Performing Arts at South Florida Community College.
Sheriff's Deputy/Lake Placid High School Resource Officer Ross Porter asked the fifth-graders, "What time is it?"
"D.A.R.E time," the students shouted.
Then the deputy spelled out the letters with the students shouting what they represented --Drug Abuse Resistance Education.
The 16th-annual D.A.R.E. Day Celebration continued the tradition of being part pep rally and part reinforcement of the drug resistance education, which includes encouraging the students to make good choices so they can follow and achieve their dreams in life.
Musician/vocalist and "American Idol" contestant Shelby Dressel brought the students to their feet for a sing-a-long to a song they knew well -- Taylor Swift's "You Belong to Me."
Accompanying herself on guitar, Dressel stopped singing briefly at a few points to let the students carry the tune.
Dressel sang, "Dreaming about the day when you wake up and find, that what you're ... ."
"Looking for has been here the whole time," the students sang to complete the lyric line.
Dustin Woods, the youth pastor at Grace Bible Church, spoke about role models and how they make a difference, mentioning Swift, basketball player LeBron James and football player Tim Tebow.
Interspersed throughout the program, the D.A.R.E. high school role models presented public service announcements on topics such as staying in school, child abuse and decision making.
The rockin' steady California Toe Jam band served up a heaping helping of good-time oldies from the Isley Brothers' "Shout" to Bachman-Turner Overdrive's "Takin' Care of Business."
Watching the celebration, Sheriff Susan Benton said it was either the biggest fifth-grade class or they had less space this year.
The fifth-grade class is about 960 strong, but the recent auditorium renovation put fewer seats on the main level with additional seating in the balcony and boxes.
"I was so excited that we got to be here to inaugurate this gorgeous facility," Benton said near the end of the program. "As usual, fifth-graders are full of energy so they are loving every minute of it.
"We could never afford a venue like this to have such an event and it's such a wonderful partnership with the community college, the sheriff's office and the school board to be able to this for the kids."
There will always be folks who make poor decisions, but the same strong message on making good decisions has to be repeated over and over, she said.
"We do have the majority of our young folks making good decisions," Benton said. "If we constantly give that message then we are still going to have a strong viable community in the future." |
