On December 16th and December 17th, 2019, the Paulding County D.A.R.E. Program had graduation for the 5th graders of Antwerp Local Schools and Paulding Exempted Village Schools. The road to graduation expands over 12 weeks and in the end, the students have to write an essay. The essay allows the kids to reflect on the lessons and how they can use what they have learned to be safe and responsible in the future. Deputy Mendez said the essay also shows him who’s ready to be responsible since it’s the student’s responsibility to complete.
To conclude their time in D.A.R.E. the 5th graders have a graduation party. “Graduation is a time for the D.A.R.E. Program to reward the kids for their hard work and for making a responsible choice by turning in an essay”, says Deputy Mendez. During graduation, the students receive pizza or donuts, a t-shirt, and a certificate. The essay winners receive an extra prize which is a gift card. The essays winners for Antwerp Local Schools were Gabriella Snyder, Maclaren Ehrhart, Aiden Hook, Keira Spyker, and Michael Rhors. For Paulding Exempted Village Schools the essay winners were Molly Hull, Audrey Stoller, Max Daeger, Roselynn Bowser, and Trenton Tressler.
