(Photo: Dare students are recognized during Dare Graduation at CAMS.)
The Chambersburg Police Department currently conducts a drug education program called D.A.R.E. at the Chambersburg Area Middle School. D.A.R.E. stands for Drug Abuse Resistance Education. It is a drug abuse prevention education program designed to equip our children with knowledge about drug abuse, the consequences of abuse, and skills for resisting peer pressure to experiment with drugs, alcohol and tobacco.
The D.A.R.E. program is taught in over 75% of the nation's school districts, creating a positive atmosphere for students to interact with uniformed law enforcement officers.
This unique program uses uniformed law enforcement officers to teach a formal curriculum to students in a classroom setting.
The D.A.R.E. lesson plans focus on four major areas:
1. Providing accurate information about drugs, alcohol and tobacco.
2. Teaching students good decision-making skills.
3. Showing students how to recognize and resist peer pressure.
4. Giving students ideas for positive alternatives to drug use.
D.A.R.E officers work with the children to raise their self-esteem, teach them how to make decisions on their own, and help them identify positive alternatives to drugs. Through role-playing, the D.A.R.E., curriculum emphasizes the negative consequences of drug use, and reinforces the skills to resist peer pressure and intimidation.
The D.A.R.E. program was started in 1990 at the Chambersburg Area Middle School with just two officers who were responsible for the instruction of the entire student body. The program has since grown to a total of eight officers who divide the task of teaching all of the students. Below is a list of our current D.A.R.E. officers.
CURRENT D.A.R.E. OFFICERS
LINK TO DARE WEBSITE
- Cpl. Matthew Cody - D.A.R.E. Coordinator
- Det. Sgt. Diane Kelso
- Det. Scott Mummert
- PFC Darren Helsel
- PFC Craig Leisher
- PFC Anthony Rosenberry
- PFC Bradley Kyner Jr.
- Ptlm. Michael Taylor