Webster Parish Sheriff Jason Parker congratulates an E.S. Richardson D.A.R.E. grad during Friday’s ceremonies. Richardson D.A.R.E. officer and School Resource Officer Deputy Brandy Powell presented the certificates.
By Pat Culverhouse
Students at E.S. Richardson Elementary received recognition Friday for completing their D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) instruction, and the parish’s top law enforcement officer said their accomplishment could help shape their future.
“This program will help you make the right decisions as you grow older,” Webster Parish Sheriff Jason Parker told a large group of students and parents. “By completing this course, you now know the dangers of drugs and the harm they can cause all of us.”
Parker said future leaders of our city, parish and country are among those receiving their D.A.R.E. graduation certificates.
“You are our future, and I am so very proud of you and what you’ve accomplished,” he said. “Among you could be tomorrow’s doctors, lawyers, politicians and maybe even a future Sheriff of Webster Parish. We love you all and we support you.”
Graduates and guests were greeted by Webster Deputy Brandy Powell, D.A.R.E. officer and School Resource Officer at E.S. Richardson.
D.A.R.E. was launched by former Los Angeles Police Chief Daryl Gates and the Los Angeles Unified School District in 1983.
According to the program’s history statement, the innovative substance abuse prevention education program has been a successful educational tool “…thanks to the hard work of tens of thousands of officers and educators throughout America and around the globe.”