The fifth grade class at Ethan celebrated a special graduation Friday. The students successfully completed the DARE program. Its objective is to teach elementary students to resist peer pressure to use drugs, alcohol, tobacco other risky behaviors.
Teaching the class is Davison County Deputy Austin Van Horn’s passion. “That’s kind of why I took the SRO job,” said Van Horn. “I wanted to work with kids. I wanted to help them figure out how to make better choices before they get to the age where we have to deal with them as adults. And if you can reach them early, you’re preventing a lot of that down the road.”
DARE is taught once a week for ten weeks. “Van Horn says parents played a supportive role by reviewing weekly worksheets with the students. “It was really important to me that the parents knew what we were talking about and filled those sheets out with them and it was awesome,” Van Horn said.
Van Horn proudly presented each graduate with a certificate of completion and offered final words of encouragement. “You always have a choice, so choose to be better, choose to do better, and choose to want better. Thank you,” Van Horn concluded.
Sheriff Steve Harr along with several other deputies joined family members, teachers and community members in celebrating the student’s achievements.