Whitfield County 5th Graders Honored For DARE Essays

  • Wednesday, May 24, 2017
  • Mitch Talley

Gabriel Benjamin brought the audience to its feet - and a tear to the eyes of his listeners - after reading his award-winning essay at the 12th annual DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) recognition program held May 15 at the Dalton Trade Center.

 

“I will never do drugs because of all I have lost, and I hope you won’t either,” the Tunnel Hill Elementary fifth-grader wrote in his essay.

“I am lucky to have a father who chose me over drugs, but I know there are some children who are put into foster homes with strangers and will never see their real family ever again because of drugs, either because they can’t quit or they’re in jail for a very long time.”

 

Benjamin’s essay was honored as the best out of the hundreds written by this year’s DARE graduates from 13 elementary schools in the county.

 

“Can you imagine the courage that it takes to write an essay like this when you’re 10 years old?” emcee Terry Phelps asked the audience after listening to Benjamin  read his essay. “Wow! Great job!”

 

Benjamin (who has since turned 11 in February) and the other school-level winners were recognized and treated to a buffet lunch by the Kiwanis Club of Dalton and the Whitfield County Sheriff’s Office.

 

As first-place winner for the county, Benjamin received a wooden plaque and a $100 cash prize. Arianna Garcia of Westside, second-place winner and recipient of a plaque and $50 cash, was not able to attend the program because she has transferred to a school in another county. Tina Quintanilla of Cedar Ridge received a plaque and $20 cash for her third-place essay.

 

Other school-level winners who were recognized during the program – with family, school officials, and Kiwanians looking on – included:


Rylie Pinson, Pleasant Grove

Octavia Woodward, Valley Point

Sandra Ramirez, Varnell

Rachel Mason, Cohutta

Tristyn Sutton, New Hope

Abby Stanley, Antioch

Danahi Reza, Dug Gap

Litzy Reyes, Dawnville

Shea Poe, Beaverdale

Amaya Cruz, Eastside

 

E’lan Watson, who won the DARE essay contest in 2010 while at Varnell Elementary, returned to talk about how DARE has continued to influence her life, even as she is slated to graduate from The Baylor School in June and head to Auburn University in the fall where she plans a double major in Spanish and Business Analytics.

 

“This time seven years ago I was sitting in this room about to read my DARE essay for the county competition,” Watson recalled. “When I won I was of course overwhelmed with feelings of pride and joy and excitement because I accomplished something that was so important to me. I wanted to win primarily because my older sister won two years before me.

 

“But now I realize that my DARE experience was much more than a contest,” she said. “DARE has been an extremely important part of my life. It’s more than a program about substance abuse; it teaches important life skills like decision-making. It has completely altered the way I make decisions and approach situations.”

 

Ms. Watson said she even used DARE to write her college essay.

 

“The essay question was similar for all applications: tell a story of an event that has changed your life and turned you into the person that you are today. I immediately thought of the DARE program. I remember making a promise to Officer Silvers and myself to remain completely drug and alcohol free, and I have no intentions of ever breaking my vital promise. I think the most important thing I’ve learned from this entire experience is that knowledge is power. There’s a quote that I love by Anton Chekhov that reads: ‘Knowledge is of no value unless you put it into practice.’

 

“I think that’s important to keep in mind, especially for the fifth graders that are about to start this really exciting journey into middle school,” Ms. Watson said. “Remember what you learned and don’t be afraid to teach others the value of the DARE program. Also don’t be afraid to say no.”

 

Jarrod Wright, a student at Southeast Whitfield High School, spoke about his role as a state representative for the youth advisory board for the DARE program and offered words of encouragement to the fifth graders.

 

“As you go through your life, things will get tough and you’ve got to make sure that just because you wrote an essay doesn’t mean that you’re automatically drug free,” Mr. Wright said. “You have to make that promise to yourself and keep going with it all the way through your whole life, really.”

Sheriff Scott Chitwood said that over the past 26 years, the DARE program has reached more than 26,000 youngsters. “As I said at graduation, are we making a difference? I think so because if we save one life, that was worth it,” he said.

 

The sheriff thanked County School Superintendent Dr. Judy Gilreath and the schools for allowing the DARE instructors to come onto their campuses and teach the DARE program. He praised the school-level winners, saying “these are products of the Whitfield County School System. These are outstanding young men and women, and I’m proud to be a part of it.”

 

DARE instructor Sgt. Tammy Silvers said the program “is all about the kids, and them putting forth that effort and making that commitment to us that they’re going to stay drug free and they’re going to make good choices in their lives. That’s going to lead to a good track in life.

 

“If you want to be successful in life,” she said, “you have to follow through and think about the things you are doing in making good choices, choosing your friends wisely. That’s what this is all about is laying that foundation for these kids to make good choices in life.”

 

She called the essay winners “the cream of the crop,” but pointed out that their victory is just the beginning of their journey. “This is where you take your knowledge and you use it for the rest of your life,” she said, “and you start making those good choices and it’s an everyday thing. You have to do it for the rest of your life.”

 

Fellow instructor Sgt. Darlene Crider called the essay winners “the leaders” of their schools.

 

“You see where all these adults are sitting today?” she said. “You may be sitting in one of these places one day or even something else that is your dream. You follow your dreams, but in order to get there, you have to make good decisions and we said that over and over and over in class. You can make one bad decision in your life and it’ll follow you the rest of your life. We don’t want that to happen, so start here.

 

“You’re going to middle school and on to high school and college,” Ms. Crider said, “and do whatever it is that you want to do in life. So you have to start somewhere – you just started, you made a great decision, you wrote a good essay, and  you’ve promised everyone that was sitting in your classroom, your teachers, your principals, your officers, and  your friends, most of all yourself.

 

“I say this to my students: who is going to be with you for the rest of your lives? Not us. We will be supporting you, and we’ll be there if you need us. But you will be everywhere you are for the rest of your life, so it has to be your decision and if you make a bad one, you’ll stand accountable for that decision. So make good ones.”

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