Special to IFN

Pine Lake Preparatory’s fifth-grade students celebrated the completion of the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) program with a graduation ceremony on December 10.

Mooresville Police Officer Richard Kratz presented certificates to each student, and awarded the coveted DARE stuffed lions to the winners of the essay contest for each classroom. Amritha Karthik, the overall winner, won a bicycle for her essay about the skills learned in DARE class.

Guest speakers were ninth-grader Victoria Boeglen and 10th-grader Samuel Medina, who reflected on the skills they learned in DARE when they were in the fifth grade. They shared ways to apply the skills as older students.

This is the 11th year that Officer Kratz has taught the DARE curriculum to Pine Lake students.