Students trying to save county D.A.R.E.

By Staff
Melissa Cason
PHIL CAMPBELL-Two students at Phil Campbell Elementary decided to get involved when Franklin County Drug Abuse Resistance Education officer Mike Franklin told the students there might not be a DARE program next year.
Fifth-graders Tiffany Cole and Chelsea Higgins both said they were upset that DARE might not be at their school so they decided to take action, but in completely different ways.
Cole decided to go to the top and wrote a letter to Gov. Bob Riley addressing her concerns about the DARE program being in danger and the future of drug education at her school.
"I wanted other kids to be able to have D.A.R.E. so I thought the governor could help," Cole said about her letter.
Riley wrote back thanking her for taking the initiative to help save the worthwhile program. Riley told her that he forwarded the letter to Dr. Joseph Morton, Superintendent of the Alabama Department of Education, so that he and his staff can fully evaluate her concerns and take appropriate or available action.
"Even if we don't get to have D.A.R.E. next year, it means so much to me personally that a student was affected by D.A.R.E. so much that he or she wanted to help keep the program here in our schools," Franklin said.
Phil Campbell Elementary Principal Jackie Ergle said school officials are very proud of Cole for taking action by writing the letter to the governor.
"This goes to show how much D.A.R.E. really does affect our students," she said.
Higgins also wanted to get involved, so she decided to enlist help from her mom and to do some fundraising for the program.
"I wanted other students to have D.A.R.E., so I asked my mom if we could do some fundraising because (Franklin) said the program was in trouble because of funding," Higgins said.
She said she feels that everyone should be able to learn what drugs do to your body so kids won't try them.
"D.A.R.E. teaches us what drugs do to our body, and I think that a lot of kids are saying no because they know that it's going to hurt them," Higgins said.
Franklin said he received a letter from Higgins' mother asking what they could do to keep D.A.R.E. in the schools.
"I was just so touched by the way everyone wants to get involved," Franklin said. "It's going to take about $36,000 to keep D.A.R.E. in our schools. The sheriff and I are doing everything within our power to keep D.A.R.E. in Franklin County."
Both the Franklin County Board of Education and the Russellville City School Board have been asked to partner with the sheriff's department in order to keep D.A.R.E. alive in the county, however, neither board has made any decisions regarding the matter.
"We are running out of time," Franklin said. "Even if we lose D.A.R.E., the fact that these kids are willing to stand up and say that we need this program, just touches my heart."