Pubdate: Tue, 05 Dec 2006
Source: Laramie Boomerang (WY)
Copyright: 2006 Laramie Boomerang
Contact:  http://www.laramieboomerang.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2503
Author: Carrie May
Note: This Is the Second in a Series About the Laramie
Police Department's High-Risk Youth Officers.

D.A.R.E. BRINGS MENTORING TO CLASSROOM

If someone thinks you're cool only because you're doing  drugs and 
alcohol, maybe you shouldn't be hanging  around with them anyway.

These words of wisdom come from 15-year-old Kevin Heir,  who is a 
member of Laramie Choice, a group of Laramie  High School students 
who have chosen to remain drug,  alcohol and tobacco free throughout 
their high school  days.

"It's not always that you shouldn't do (drugs and  alcohol) because 
it'll get you in trouble," Heir said.  "It truly doesn't help you to 
do stuff like that."

Heir and four of his Laramie Choice student colleges  visited 
Sherilyn Berube's sixth grade class at Spring  Creek Elementary last 
Tuesday to share why they are  substance free with Berube's 12 
pre-teen students preparing for junior high. The five high schoolers 
took  part in the mentoring portion of the sixth-graders'  D.A.R.E. 
course through the Albany County School  District and the Laramie 
Police Department.

"We educate about the importance of the  decision-making process and 
how that is going to affect  people's lives," D.A.R.E. Instructor and 
LPD High-Risk  Youth Officer Erica Rich said. "(D.A.R.E.) is purely 
educational and very separate from enforcement. I am  uniformed, but 
students can feel free to trust (me) and  build that bond beyond an 
enforcement-type  relationship."

There are three high-risk youth officers who regularly  spend time 
Albany County schools; Rich, who teaches  D.A.R.E., and Officers Al 
Rich and Ryan Gerdes, who  routinely visit schools in uniform as 
security  officers.

"I am able to build relationships and bond with these  children who 
may or may not ever have any interaction  with police," Erica Rich 
said. "The more interaction we  can have with students on a positive 
level to be  reinforcing that we are here to protect and serve, the better."

According to Erica Rich, after the rash of school  shootings earlier 
this year, school safety has been a  huge concern for parents, school 
staff and the LPD.  Parents want to know what is going on in schools 
to  protect their children, Rich said, and they want to  know that 
enough is being done.

"We are constantly bringing in new information and  training on these 
types of issues, so we are able to  respond well and quickly," Erica 
Rich said. "I think  parents should feel comfortable with their kids 
being  in school."

Nearing the last stages of the 15-week curriculum with  the 
sixth-graders, Erica Rich decided to bring in  representatives from 
Laramie Choice to speak to her  students about their own experiences 
with substance  abuse.

As the high schoolers walked into the classroom, a hush  fell over 
the sixth-graders.

"We could look like that one day," one student's  comment rose above 
the whispers.

Timidly, the students began asking the high schoolers  about their 
experiences with drugs and alcohol, asking  if they'd ever tried any 
illegal substances, if their  friends try to pressure them into using 
and when they  had last been around alcohol or drugs.

"For illegal drugs well, they're all illegal to me,"  16-year-old 
Jordan Bishop added, before continuing,  "You really have to choose 
to be around those. Alcohol  is much more common. And I've seen my 
friends get into  drinking and it really tears you down."

Jarek Buss, a 15-year-old student who enjoys fencing,  told the rapt 
sixth graders that substance abuse would  take "your money, your time 
and your health. Three  things you can't afford to lose in high school."

Making that initial decision to say no is the hardest  part, 
18-year-old Mallory Dvorak said, remembering the  first time she was 
offered alcohol.

"My heart was beating I was with older kids," Dvorak  remembered. "I 
just overcame one of my biggest fears   it was scary but it was a 
really big honor."

Understanding that decision-making process, the  importance of the 
decisions people make daily, is a big  focus in D.A.R.E., Erica Rich said.

"They control their own decisions," Erica Rich said.  "We introduce 
the concept of being confident in their  decisions. We talk about the 
belief that all kids are  trying these things, when really, it is the 
exact  opposite. The main point is that the more you know, 
the  better decision you are going to make.

"Whether or not I can tell if D.A.R.E. is going to  work, I will 
never know that. We will never know what  makes people make the right 
decisions," Erica Rich  said. "We don't know what is in (these kids') 
lives.  Our efforts are meant to be protecting, preparing and 
educating these children."
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MAP posted-by: Elaine