St. Clair County D.A.R.E. instructor Buddy McBride, along with Mrs. Short and teachers at Odenville Intermediate School, have introduced a new approach to the 10-week D.A.R.E. curriculum aimed at increasing student engagement.
The program includes a friendly competition where students can win prizes for correctly answering questions. The class that earns the most participation stickers gets to host the D.A.R.E. mascot, Daren, in their classroom for a week and receives recognition for their involvement.
Organizers say these strategies are designed to help students retain lessons and provide recognition for their participation throughout the program, which concludes with graduation in March.
At the end of the program, one overall participant from the fifth grade will be recognized during graduation.
“The students are having fun ‘bringing it’ while learning how to resist drugs and violence,” said organizers.