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Welcome to the Louisville Police Department D. A. R.E. homepage. D. A. R.E. which stands for Drug Abuse Resistance Education is a program taught by police officers to inform and educate young people on the dangers of drug use and how to resist the pressures that come along with drug use. The D.A.R.E. elementary curriculum is taught at the fifth grade level at Louisville Elementary School, Nanih Waiya Attendance Center, Noxapater Attendance Center and Winston Academy by Officer Tonya McWhirter. The D.A.R.E. middle school curriculum, Keepin' It Real, is taught at the seventh grade level at Eiland Middle School by Sergeant Edward Hunt.
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HISTORY OF THE LOUISVILLE DARE PROGRAM
In the early 1990’s Louisville Mayor Robert E. Clark Jr. and Louisville Police Chief Mack Parks put together a task force of people to come up with solutions to handle juvenile crimes that at that time was plaguing the community. The task force included educators, parents, and police officers. The result was the D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) Program, a program which was new to the State of Mississippi at that time.
Officer Gerald Hayes and Officer Jack McCart were chosen by the city leadership and trained to become D.A.R.E. officers in Meridian, Mississippi in August of 1990. After the completion of the D.A.R.E. Officer Training, the pilot program was immediately introduced within the halls of Eiland Middle School at the fifth grade level by the newly certified D.A.R.E. Officers Hayes and McCart. After that first year, the Louisville Municipal School District and Louisville Police Department found the program to be an overwhelming success. In 1991, a 28,000 dollar grant was applied for to teach the D.A.R.E. program to all fifth grade students within the entire county. Governor Ray Mabus granted funding for the D.A.R.E. program in Winston County.
Officer Hayes would be selected to teach D.A.R.E. full time. As the program continued to grow, the Mississippi State University Leadership Institute became a partner with the Louisville Municipal School District and Louisville Police Department. This partnership leads to the formation of the Winston County D.A.R.E. Advisory Council. The council consisted of parents, government and city officials, business leaders, school administrators, and police.
In 1994, a grant was applied for through the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety for drug prevention. The 3 year grant was approved and funded Officer Hayes to continue to teach the D.A.R.E. program full time. The program continued to grow and concentrated on making the program available to more grades. In 1995, Louisville became the Mississippi D.A.R.E. Training Center in partnership with Mississippi State University and the Winston County D.A.R.E. Advisory Council. Hundreds of police officers from around the country were trained in Louisville.
D.A.R.E. continued to thrive until 1999 when there was a break in service due to the lack of federal funding. A lot of D.A.R.E. programs did not survive after the funding was cut off but the Louisville D.A.R.E. program did. Due to prior planning, a resolution was written in 1995 by the City of Louisville that would earmark 5 dollars from each and every misdemeanor fine to go towards drug education, the D.A.R.E. program.
The D.A.R.E. program would now be funded. The brief break in instruction would not last long due to the public and parent outcry. The program was promptly reinstated and supported by the City of Louisville, Winston County residents, and the Louisville Municipal School District. Officer Hayes served from 1990-2004 in every capacity except facilitator. There was no doubt that the Louisville D.A.R.E. program had broad community support but in order to deal with societal changes pertaining to drug use and juvenile deviant behavior the Louisville Police Department sent many officers to the D.A.R.E. Officer Training. Many officers that work for or have worked for Louisville Police Department have been through D.A.R.E. Officer Training. Officer Howard Marshall, Officer Mike Perkins, Officer Vernon Eichelberger, Officer Charlie Black, Officer Tonya McWhirter, Officer David Gladney, Officer Jason Pugh, and Sergeant Edward Hunt have all been certified to teach the D.A.R.E. program at some point since the Louisville D.A.R.E. program inception. While some officers have moved on from Louisville Police Department the desire to educate the young people of our community on the dangers of drug use still rages on.
Every year there is a hunger to better the Louisville D.A.R.E. program effectiveness in drug education. During the 2004-2005 school years, Officer Tonya McWhirter taught the fifth grade D.A.R.E. program in all the area schools except Grace Christian under the direction of then Police Chief Ricky Peterson. Chief Peterson allowed Officer McWhirter the opportunity to oversee all aspects of the Louisville D.A.R.E. program. Through the years Officer McWhirter continued to manage and teach the fifth grade D.A.R.E. curriculum.
Present Police Chief L.M. Claiborne, Jr. allowed Officer McWhirter to continue to serve in the same capacity since accepting the top job in 2006. It was the goal of Chief Claiborne and Officer McWhirter to grow the program and become more involved in the community. Many changes would occur to make the goal a reality. Officer Jason Pugh would complete his D.A.R.E. Officer Training in 2007 and begin teaching the D.A.R.E. Middle School Curriculum to seventh grade students at Winston Academy with the approval and consent of the Head Master Ferrell Rigby. While Officer Pugh became a certified D.A.R.E. instructor and began to teach seventh grade students, Chief Claiborne allowed Officer McWhirter to train to become a D.A.R.E. Mentor. Mentor in Training consisted of 3 phases and upon completion in August of 2008 Officer McWhirter received Mentor status. Just as Officer McWhirter completed her Mentor Training, Sergeant Edward Hunt prepared himself for D.A.R.E. Officer Training and in November of 2008 graduated from the officer training.
As a Mentor, Officer McWhirter works with the Mississippi D.A.R.E. Training Center at the Lee County Sheriffs Department in Tupelo, Mississippi to mentor officers from around the country on how the program should be taught in the classroom. In 2009 the advancement of the middle school curriculum took shape with the support of Superintendent Harry Kemp, Director of Curriculum and Instruction Dr. Nola Bryant, and Eiland Middle School Principal James Brooks. Officer Pugh and Sergeant Hunt became responsible for educating seventh grade students on the dangers they may face as a result of drug use and abuse as they grow and enter high school. In 2009, Officer McWhirter became certified to teach the D.A.R.E. Community Program while maintaining her role of overseeing the elementary and middle school Louisville D.A.R.E. programs and teaching the fifth grade elementary school curriculum.
Because of the hard work, support, and dedication of so many, the Louisville D.A.R.E. Elementary School Program, Middle School Program, and Community Program has been and continues to be a success as a community orientated approach in helping solve many of our ever-changing societal problems.
Officer Gerald Hayes and Officer Jack McCart were chosen by the city leadership and trained to become D.A.R.E. officers in Meridian, Mississippi in August of 1990. After the completion of the D.A.R.E. Officer Training, the pilot program was immediately introduced within the halls of Eiland Middle School at the fifth grade level by the newly certified D.A.R.E. Officers Hayes and McCart. After that first year, the Louisville Municipal School District and Louisville Police Department found the program to be an overwhelming success. In 1991, a 28,000 dollar grant was applied for to teach the D.A.R.E. program to all fifth grade students within the entire county. Governor Ray Mabus granted funding for the D.A.R.E. program in Winston County.
Officer Hayes would be selected to teach D.A.R.E. full time. As the program continued to grow, the Mississippi State University Leadership Institute became a partner with the Louisville Municipal School District and Louisville Police Department. This partnership leads to the formation of the Winston County D.A.R.E. Advisory Council. The council consisted of parents, government and city officials, business leaders, school administrators, and police.
In 1994, a grant was applied for through the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety for drug prevention. The 3 year grant was approved and funded Officer Hayes to continue to teach the D.A.R.E. program full time. The program continued to grow and concentrated on making the program available to more grades. In 1995, Louisville became the Mississippi D.A.R.E. Training Center in partnership with Mississippi State University and the Winston County D.A.R.E. Advisory Council. Hundreds of police officers from around the country were trained in Louisville.
D.A.R.E. continued to thrive until 1999 when there was a break in service due to the lack of federal funding. A lot of D.A.R.E. programs did not survive after the funding was cut off but the Louisville D.A.R.E. program did. Due to prior planning, a resolution was written in 1995 by the City of Louisville that would earmark 5 dollars from each and every misdemeanor fine to go towards drug education, the D.A.R.E. program.
The D.A.R.E. program would now be funded. The brief break in instruction would not last long due to the public and parent outcry. The program was promptly reinstated and supported by the City of Louisville, Winston County residents, and the Louisville Municipal School District. Officer Hayes served from 1990-2004 in every capacity except facilitator. There was no doubt that the Louisville D.A.R.E. program had broad community support but in order to deal with societal changes pertaining to drug use and juvenile deviant behavior the Louisville Police Department sent many officers to the D.A.R.E. Officer Training. Many officers that work for or have worked for Louisville Police Department have been through D.A.R.E. Officer Training. Officer Howard Marshall, Officer Mike Perkins, Officer Vernon Eichelberger, Officer Charlie Black, Officer Tonya McWhirter, Officer David Gladney, Officer Jason Pugh, and Sergeant Edward Hunt have all been certified to teach the D.A.R.E. program at some point since the Louisville D.A.R.E. program inception. While some officers have moved on from Louisville Police Department the desire to educate the young people of our community on the dangers of drug use still rages on.
Every year there is a hunger to better the Louisville D.A.R.E. program effectiveness in drug education. During the 2004-2005 school years, Officer Tonya McWhirter taught the fifth grade D.A.R.E. program in all the area schools except Grace Christian under the direction of then Police Chief Ricky Peterson. Chief Peterson allowed Officer McWhirter the opportunity to oversee all aspects of the Louisville D.A.R.E. program. Through the years Officer McWhirter continued to manage and teach the fifth grade D.A.R.E. curriculum.
Present Police Chief L.M. Claiborne, Jr. allowed Officer McWhirter to continue to serve in the same capacity since accepting the top job in 2006. It was the goal of Chief Claiborne and Officer McWhirter to grow the program and become more involved in the community. Many changes would occur to make the goal a reality. Officer Jason Pugh would complete his D.A.R.E. Officer Training in 2007 and begin teaching the D.A.R.E. Middle School Curriculum to seventh grade students at Winston Academy with the approval and consent of the Head Master Ferrell Rigby. While Officer Pugh became a certified D.A.R.E. instructor and began to teach seventh grade students, Chief Claiborne allowed Officer McWhirter to train to become a D.A.R.E. Mentor. Mentor in Training consisted of 3 phases and upon completion in August of 2008 Officer McWhirter received Mentor status. Just as Officer McWhirter completed her Mentor Training, Sergeant Edward Hunt prepared himself for D.A.R.E. Officer Training and in November of 2008 graduated from the officer training.
As a Mentor, Officer McWhirter works with the Mississippi D.A.R.E. Training Center at the Lee County Sheriffs Department in Tupelo, Mississippi to mentor officers from around the country on how the program should be taught in the classroom. In 2009 the advancement of the middle school curriculum took shape with the support of Superintendent Harry Kemp, Director of Curriculum and Instruction Dr. Nola Bryant, and Eiland Middle School Principal James Brooks. Officer Pugh and Sergeant Hunt became responsible for educating seventh grade students on the dangers they may face as a result of drug use and abuse as they grow and enter high school. In 2009, Officer McWhirter became certified to teach the D.A.R.E. Community Program while maintaining her role of overseeing the elementary and middle school Louisville D.A.R.E. programs and teaching the fifth grade elementary school curriculum.
Because of the hard work, support, and dedication of so many, the Louisville D.A.R.E. Elementary School Program, Middle School Program, and Community Program has been and continues to be a success as a community orientated approach in helping solve many of our ever-changing societal problems.