VIDEO: DARE Graduates New Role Models At Elementary Schools

Officer Troy Johnson said 58 fifth grade students graduated from DARE at the and 171 graduated district-wide.

According to the organization's website, the 10-week program teaches students how to resist peer pressure and live drug-free and violence-free lives. Johnson sad the course was a bit compressed this year due to a last minute decision to fund the program but he said that by teaching nine classes a week he was able to cover the entire curriculum.

Principal Greg Keith spoke to the graduating class at Ledyard Center School and connected the school's RACE behavior model (Respect, Acceptance, Cooperation and Effort) to the lessons the kids had learned during the program. Keith said the students will be the oldest kids in school next year and if they use the skills they learned in DARE and demontrate RACE behavior, they'll be good role models.