NEW DARE PROGRAM OFFERS STUDENTS MORE CHOICES

New Curriculum To Support An Anti-drug Program Will Help Local Police
Officers Put Decision-making Into The Hands Of Students

Formerly Drug Abuse Resistance Education, the new DARE program - now called
Define, Assess, Respond and Evaluate - is empowering students so they can
make their own decisions.

"The focus is unchanged," said Lisa Jobes, Enid Police DARE officer. "The
new DARE curriculum is very flexible."

The new curriculum, introduced to officers during an Oklahoma City
conference early this month, helps officers more effectively deliver the
message of abstaining from drugs and violence by introducing the
decision-making model, she said.

It takes students through the steps to define the problem, assess choices,
respond to the situation and evaluate their decision.

The new 10-week program also is more flexible, allowing Enid's two DARE
officers a better opportunity to switch curriculum if they find it necessary.

"With the 17-week curriculum, you couldn't veer away from it if you needed
to cover other areas," Jobes said.

DARE officer Roger Gripe said the main focus has switched to junior high,
where experts feel the curriculum will be most valued.

However, the fifth-grade program still will remain, Jobes said, because the
continuity with fifth-grade teachers works so well.

The new curriculum also fits in better with other subjects. For example,
elementary students will be required to do chart and graph work in their
workbooks.

The delivery component will remain constant, Gripe said.

"Even opponents said 'Don't get rid of the delivery system,'" he said,
pointing out that uniformed police officers teach the program.

"It builds a bond," Jobes said.

A new aspect of the DARE program is the addition of a company who's owner
has pledged to give 20 percent of sales from a particular ZIP code to that
DARE program.