Middle schools in St. Mary’s County last week participated in a number of activities in honor of Red Ribbon Week. And the St. Mary’s County Board of Education on Tuesday issued a resolution in honor of the week and commended the St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office’s Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) program.
At the school board presentation, Superintendent Dr. Michael Martirano took note of the increase in heroin drug overdose deaths in the county. “We now more than ever need to raise awareness because one wrong decision can lead to death.” He emphasized that the effort was not just confined to one week, but was ongoing.
Martirano noted that he tells students at high school graduation that he wants them to be happy in life. “Life cut short is very said,” he added.
The resolution presented to Sgt. Gary Johnson said in part, “A key strategy in substance abuse prevention is educating parents, students, and the community at large on substance abuse issues and the resources available in our community to help prevent this high risk behavior.”
National Red Ribbon Week, Oct. 23-31, was designated by the U.S. Department of Justice and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). The nationwide awareness campaign started in 1985 after the murder of DEA Agent Enrique “Kiki” Camerena in Mexico and spread from his hometown in California. It became a nationwide observance during the Clinton Administration.
Corporal Angela Delozier is the D.A.R.E. Officer at Margaret Brent and Leonardtown middle schools. At the school board meeting a video was shown of a door decorating contest she coordinated at Margaret Brent M.S. which blended the themes of drug abuse awareness and Halloween to show that drug abuse is indeed spooky.
Some of the other activities at Leonardtown and
