D.A.R.E program graduates 51 fifth graders in La Crosse

Program finished out its 27th year.

Northside Elementary School students took the pledge Wednesday not to drink or do drugs going forward.

That pledge from 51 students was the graduation of a 10-week D.A.R.E. program.

“Learning skills to help them make good choices and resist peer pressure because, basically, all studies show that they will faces the greatest amount of peer pressure in middle  school,” La Crosse police officer Kurt Weaver said. “So we want to give them tools to, hopefully, be able to handle that and navigate middle school successfully.

Weaver also talked of how often he hears gratitude from parents, many of whom he also taught.

“Across the board, they say … we didn’t realize how important this program was until we had kids,” Weaver said. “it’s nice to hear that the program is appreciated.

“D.A.R.E. is totally funded by community donations. The fact that we’ve been able to do this for 27 years is because the community believes in this program and wants it to succeed.”