Student Selected as D.A.R.E Essay Winner

Seven students were acknowledged at the January 16 City Commission meeting for their outstanding essays on D.A.R.E (Drug Abuse Resistance Education), and one student was selected as the overall winner.

After attending D.A.R.E classes taught by SRO Lucas Lyons, SRO Adam Utt, and retired Police Chief Eric Burr, students were tasked with writing an essay comprising of three main parts:

• Detailing what they learned.
• Explaining how they applied their decision-making model.
• Outlining their plans to use their newfound knowledge to make safe and responsible choices.

City Commissioners read the essays and chose Aubree Stevens of C4 Elementary as the essay contest winner. Stevens read her essay during the commission meeting and was given a certificate. 

"We thoroughly reviewed all the essays, and each of you is truly remarkable. Determining the top entry was challenging because all of you are winners. Thank you for your outstanding contributions," Mayor Jay Warren said.

Other participants in the essay contest included:

Adams Elementary:

• Ember Crow
• Jakoby Hamrick

Jefferson Elementary:

• Chloe Kirk
• Sierra Smith

Roosevelt Elementary:

• Brenda Ortega-Ortega
• Kealey Schuh

D.A.R.E. is a police officer-led series of classroom lessons that teaches children from 5th through 7th grade how to resist peer pressure and live productive drug and violence-free lives.