Eastside Elementary's Karen Ovando Wins Whitfield County DARE Essay Contest

  • Wednesday, May 22, 2019
  • Mitch Talley
Winners from 13 Whitfield County elementary schools who were honored during the Kiwanis Club of Dalton’s annual DARE essay recognition program on May 13 included (from left, front row) Jaeden Atchley, Isabela Sanchez Romero, Kobe King, Edwin Salaices, Adelyn Martinez, Dareen Mughrabi, Gaby Huijon, Karen Ovando, Monse Ortiz, Masy Gladson, Lexi Douglas, Jujhar Kapoor and Oscar Santillan. With the winners are (from left, back row) Lt. Wayne Mathis, Deputy Nathan Center, Sgt. Darlene Crider, Sgt. Tammy Silvers, Kiwanis Club President Bert Poston and Sheriff Scott Chitwood.
Winners from 13 Whitfield County elementary schools who were honored during the Kiwanis Club of Dalton’s annual DARE essay recognition program on May 13 included (from left, front row) Jaeden Atchley, Isabela Sanchez Romero, Kobe King, Edwin Salaices, Adelyn Martinez, Dareen Mughrabi, Gaby Huijon, Karen Ovando, Monse Ortiz, Masy Gladson, Lexi Douglas, Jujhar Kapoor and Oscar Santillan. With the winners are (from left, back row) Lt. Wayne Mathis, Deputy Nathan Center, Sgt. Darlene Crider, Sgt. Tammy Silvers, Kiwanis Club President Bert Poston and Sheriff Scott Chitwood.
photo by Mitch Talley

Karen Ovando pledges to think before reacting, make healthy decisions, refrain from bullying and help the victims of bullying, and stay far away from drugs and alcohol.

That’s how the fifth grader at Eastside Elementary School ended her Drug Abuse Resistance Education essay, which was judged the best out of the hundreds written by this year’s DARE graduates from 13 elementary schools in Whitfield County.

Ovando and the 12 other essay winners from each school were honored at the 14th annual DARE recognition program held May 13 at the Dalton Convention Center, sponsored by the Kiwanis Club of Dalton and the Whitfield County Sheriff’s Office.

As first-place winner, Ovando received a plaque and a $100 cash prize. Lexi Douglas of Varnell Elementary earned a plaque and $50 for second place, while a plaque and $20 went to Edwin Salaices of Cedar Ridge Elementary for third place.

“I often say, especially in today’s world, it’s not enough to know the answer, you have to be able to communicate that,” said Kiwanis Club President Bert Poston, who served as emcee of the program. “That’s what I think is so neat about this program and the DARE essay contest is that these kids learn a lot in the program but then those who got to this level have obviously demonstrated an ability to communicate that knowledge.”

Poston, who also serves as the local district attorney, praised the support of the family and school officials who turned out for the program. “In the business we’re in up here, we see that strong family support is so important for kids,” he said, “and the kids we have to deal with in a bad way generally are lacking that so we appreciate the family support shown here today.”

Other school-level winners who were recognized during the program – with family, school officials, and Kiwanians looking on – included:
- New Hope - Jujhar Kapoor
- Pleasant Grove -  Oscar Santillan
- Antioch -   Monse Ortiz
- Dawnville -  Gaby Huijon
- Dug Gap -  Dareen  Mughrabi
- Westside -  Adelyn Martinez
- Beaverdale  -   Kobe King
- Tunnel Hill  -  Isabela Sanchez Romero
- Cohutta - Masy Gladson
- Valley Point – Jaeden Atchley.

Sheriff Scott Chitwood said that since its inception in 1989, the DARE program “is knocking on the door” of reaching 30,000 youngsters over the past 30 years. “We’re proud to say some of our first students are now teachers in the Whitfield County School System or Dalton City Schools, so we have made almost a complete cycle,” he said. “We hope we’re doing our part to change lives.”
DARE instructors Sgt. Tammy Silvers, Sgt. Darlene Crider, and Officer Nathan Center introduced this year’s winners and presented each of them with a medal and certificate.

“You have set a bar for your classmates,” Silvers told the students. “They look up to you as leaders, and you being a winner in today’s essay contest speaks highly of you because currently Whitfield County has 756 enrolled fifth grade students and 13 - only 13 - made it to this point and you are one of those 13.

“It’ll all come back to making good decisions and thinking about  your choices,” she said. “When you make good decisions, others are watching you. You’re leaders for your peers, and you’re gonna be leaders when you get to middle school, high school, and college – and even in the workplace when you get out and start your career.”

Crider said her students have “heard this and heard this and heard this, but one more time… Do what you think is right even if you’re the only one doing it. Stand up for what you think is right even if you’re standing alone. So think about it. Use that DARE decision making model, make a good decision, we all make mistakes, but make the best decision that you can, and you’ll usually come out okay.”
 
 
 

Chosen as the top writers in the annual DARE essay contest were (from left, front row) Edwin Salaices, third place; Karen Ovando, first; and Lexi Douglas, second. With the winners are (from left, back row) Kiwanis Club President Bert Poston, DARE instructors Nathan Center, Darlene Crider, and Tammy Silvers, and Sheriff Scott Chitwood.
Chosen as the top writers in the annual DARE essay contest were (from left, front row) Edwin Salaices, third place; Karen Ovando, first; and Lexi Douglas, second. With the winners are (from left, back row) Kiwanis Club President Bert Poston, DARE instructors Nathan Center, Darlene Crider, and Tammy Silvers, and Sheriff Scott Chitwood.
photo by Mitch Talley
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