Pubdate: Wed, 19 Apr 2000 Source: Sturgeon Creek Post, The (Fort Saskatchewan, CN AB) Copyright: 2000 Sturgeon Creek Post Publications Contact: http://www.fortsaskinfo.com/thepost/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2342 FORT HIGH D.A.R.E. FIRST IN CANADA Fort High students are getting a booster shot of Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) thanks to local RCMP and their supporters. The program is the first of its kind in Canada for high school students, says Cst. Lea Turner with the Fort Saskatchewan RCMP. Cst. Helen Meinzinger will teach students the personal, social and legal consequences of substance abuse, plus lessons on anger management, conflict resolution and building better relationships. A similar program has been taught to local Grade 6 students since 1996, and recently expanded to include every Grade 6 student in public and Catholic schools in Fort Saskatchewan, Bruderheim and Lamont. Fort Saskatchewan RCMP were also one of the first to bring the program to Grade 7 students, says Turner. The new high school program will reach many students who received the first D.A.R.E. class while in Grade 6 in 1996, Turner adds. "Research has shown that for the program to work there has to be that inoculation later." The first high school class began its D.A.R.E. program at the Fort High on Tuesday, April 18. Turner hopes to see the program expand into Pope John Paul II High next year. The local D.A.R.E. program is funded by Dow Chemical and the Elks lodge.