I DARE!

     Under the guidance of Lakewood Police Officer Dave Acklin, Horace Mann graduated 47 fifth grade students from the D.A.R.E. Program this week. Congratulations, graduates!

     D.A.R.E stands for Drug Abuse Resistance Education; however, Officer Acklin shared in his remarks that the program is really about making good choices in life.  In addition to Officer Acklin, Horace Mann was honored to have Mayor Summers, Judge Carroll and Police Chief Malley present at the event.

     All students write an essay as part of the program, and four winners were chosen.  The winners--Charles Ditchman, Isabella Fallon, Grace Hoppel, and Claudia Irwin-- did a beautiful job reading their personal narrative essays for the crowd of family members and staff.

     All students received a certificate of completion as well as the traditional D.A.R.E. t-shirt.  To close the ceremony, Mr. Waryk led the 5th graders in singing the D.A.R.E. song.  Afterwards, cupcakes and juiceboxes (thank you to PTA for the juiceboxes and to Officer Acklin for the cupcakes) were enjoyed as celebratory refreshment.

     We hope our fifth graders remember the conversations they have had about making good choices as they head into summer and on to middle school in August!  Thank you to the fifth grade teachers and the city officials who support this valuable program for our students.

Student watch Mayor Summers

The rest of the class listening to the Mayor's remarks

HMES 5th Graders sing The DARE Song