2014 St. Anthony PD Annual Report

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XI. DARE Summary 2014 Annual Report · Police Department · St. Anthony Village, Minnesota 25 XI. DARE SummaryXI. DARE Summary Prepared by Ofﬁ cer Schlingman The St Anthony Police Department continued the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) program this year. The DARE program has had ﬁ ve different DARE ofﬁ cers, with Ofﬁ cer Schlingman taking over in 2014 after Sergeant Spiess’ 8 year tenure with the program. The DARE program was taught to kids in 5th and 8th Grades at Wilshire Park Elementary, St. Charles Borromeo School, and St Anthony Middle School. This year Ofﬁ cer Schlingman taught in 11 different classrooms with approximately 315 students. Fifth grade students from Wilshire Park Elementary and St. Charles Borromeo School participated in 10 lessons. The Ofﬁ cer leads classroom discussions and the students are encouraged to participate. In 2014 a new elementary DARE curriculum was implemented. The new curriculum is based on the D.A.R.E Decision Making Model teaching communication and life skills through the effective approach, “from kids through kids to kids”. Each week the Ofﬁ cer was there, the students were led in discussions on a variety of topics; responsibility, decision making, drug information (tobacco and alcohol), risks and consequences, peer pressure, and stress. The students also learned how to communicate conﬁ dently using both verbal and nonverbal communication. Other topics discussed were effective listening, bullying and helping others. Each student also completed a DARE essay, in which they described important topics they learned and how they would use these topics to help them lead safe, responsible and drug-free lives. At the end of the 10 weeks, the students celebrated their accomplishments and graduated from the DARE program at a commencement ceremony. The eighth grade students from St Anthony Middle School and St. Charles Borromeo School were also led by Ofﬁ cer Schlingman in 10 classroom lessons. The middle school program “Keepin’ it REAL”, focuses on four resistance strategies; refuse, explain, avoid and leave. These four strategies are applied with decision making skills, which will help the students when they encounter risky or unhealthy situations, either with drugs/alcohol or other real life circumstances. Other topics of discussion were facts on drug/alcohol use and abuse, prescription drugs, and internet safety. In addition to teaching DARE, Ofﬁ cer Schlingman also spent time at the St Anthony Middle School and High School acting as a School Resource Ofﬁ cer. Ofﬁ cer Schlingman partners with school ofﬁ cials, teachers, students and parents to assist in solving problems and to help build relationships between one another. DARE is a partnership between the schools, parents and police department to help kids make safe and healthy choices. In 2014 a new DARE ofﬁ cer will take over. Ofﬁ cer Jon Schlingman was chosen through a competitive selection process. I am sure he will do a great job.