Pubdate: Sun, 19 Nov 2006 Source: Pueblo Chieftain (CO) Copyright: 2006 The Star-Journal Publishing Corp. Contact: http://www.chieftain.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1613 Author: Tracy Harmon CANON CITY STUDENTS TOUT ANTI-DRUG EFFORT CANON CITY - When Robin Basham was in fifth grade, her parents were getting a divorce and she needed someone to lean on. The person she felt most comfortable talking to was her teenage role model whom she had gotten to know through Drug Abuse Resistance Education classes at school. "I tended to cling to her. It was so cool to have someone to talk to when I was lost and confused and I could ask her, ‘Did I do this right?' " Basham, now 14, recalls. "Now I have a chance to make a big difference and I want to do that," Basham, a DARE role model, said. Basham, a Canon City High School freshman, has been named Colorado's first-ever representative to DARE International and her good friend, Krista Limitone, 15, a sophomore, is an alternate. After going through an intense selection process to win the two-year appointment, Basham will begin a whirlwind tour of travel and teaching, showing other DARE officers how Canon City's DARE program has become the most successful in the nation. "These girls are advisers to DARE International and Canon City is the only place in the U.S. that has role models going to each class," said Neal Tyler, Canon City DARE officer. "Colorado never got involved before but these kids are going to run with it." The girls kick off their responsibilities with an appearance at a Denver Nuggets basketball game, then it is off to Tennessee for the DARE International Conference, where they will tell up to 3,000 DARE officers in attendance how the role model program works. "I want to help other kids, not just in Colorado," Limitone said. Simply put, DARE prepares fifth-grade youth for the inevitable occasions when their peers will pressure them into trying drugs or alcohol. "It gives them the confidence and ability to say no to drugs. DARE prepared me when I got asked," Limitone said. "This program teaches and educates you, especially about the consequences of your actions." It is solid students like Basham and Limitone who make the DARE program successful, Tyler said. "When I started this program 14 years ago, it was a struggle to get six kids to apply. Now the all-time record is 225 students who have applied and it is the biggest service organization in the high school," Tyler said. Teachers like Mountain View Core Knowledge School fifth-grade teacher Melissa Hammond see the first-hand effect of the program. She said it goes beyond preparing students to resist drugs. "For me, it is so much help to have the peers discussing, motivating and keeping the kids on task. Their very presence is a very positive thing because these kids look up to the high school students and see them being that person that makes good choices," Hammond said. Both Basham and Limitone are involved in a lot of other activities as well. Both girls are involved with their church youth group as well as Destination Imagination. Basham has a big part in the school play M*A*S*H plus she plans to sign up for choir next semester. Limitone is first-chair trumpet in the school band. DARE International duties will keep the girls very busy. "It's like a lot of work but a lot of work builds character. I am honored to have it and I'm not going to let anybody down," Basham said. At the end of her two-year stint, Basham will have a one in 50 chance of getting a $20,000 college scholarship. - --- MAP posted-by: Elaine