DARE Officer Resigns

School will start this year without a DARE program in most of the schools served by the Kosciusko County Sheriff's Department, but the program is far from over, officials said.

Former DARE officer Tim Sammons resigned from the KCSD July 23, and Kosciusko County Sheriff Aaron Rovenstine said that, despite Sammons' departure, the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program will continue.

However, the new DARE officer, Deputy Chris Rager, must attend schooling and receive certification before he can go into the classrooms. The KCSD DARE program serves elementary schools in the Tippecanoe Valley, Wawasee and Whitko school systems.

"Joe Hawn (a DARE officer with Warsaw Police Department) has very graciously agreed to teach the program at Burket School first semester," Rovenstine said.

Also, once Rager completes the two-week training course in September, it is possible he will be able to get the program up and running at some of the smaller schools in the first semester if he is permitted to "double up" on some of the lessons. DARE is expected to be in full force during the second semester of the 2002-03 school year.

Rovenstine said he is working to prepare the schools for this shift in DARE teaching.

The purpose of the 17-week DARE program is to educate elementary-age children about resisting drugs, violence, peer pressure and drug abuse, and to encourage self-esteem and foster positive relationships.

The DARE program is taught to students in the exit grade of elementary school, which is fifth grade for the corporations served by the KCSD.

The program is made possible through cooperative efforts between schools systems and law enforcement.

The assistance the KCSD will receive from Hawn is being handled as a "loan" from the WPD and Hawn will not receive any additional compensation from the county.

The DARE program started with the help of grant money and continues with the county funding the cost of the officer. The Kosciusko Coalition on Drug Education financed $13,000 for the program in 2002 and the sheriff's department received about $6,000 in donations for DARE, Rovenstine said.

Anyone with questions about the Kosciusko County Sheriff's Department DARE program can call Rovenstine at 267-5667.