Thursday, May 23, 2013
Check out the video below to see Abby Stewart talking about her experience as the head of the law enforcement agency and watch her in action at a meeting with her command staff.
When the command staff of the Chesterfield Police Department walked in for their usual meeting Wednesday morning meeting, they were greeted not by Police Chief Ray Johnson, but his pint-sized, blonde-haired replacement, fifth grader Abby Stewart. Sitting at the head of a big conference table and outfitted in a custom T-shirt airbrushed to resemble a police uniform, Stewart had a wide smile as she listened to each officer explain their role, signed off an their requests and talked about the day’s events. They informed her about an accident had caused an early morning traffic jam on Highway 40 and the ever-vigilant Abby nodded her head. She and her mother had noticed it during their morning commute. Join Chesterfield Patch for more community…
Monday, June 6, 2011
Replacing teachers with cops has never been a good idea.
It was refreshing to see the Chesterfield Police suggest an alternative to the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) program in the Rockwood School District. The school district recently announced it would not continue the D.A.R.E. program, and Chesterfield Police have said they will be involved in helping the district develop an expanded curriculum that will invite police and other experts to talk about drug prevention, safety, bullying, peer pressure, citizenship and community service. For years, I've thought that D.A.R.E. isn't the best way to educate students about drug abuse. My opinion is based from 30 years experience in law enforcement and my experience as a Washington, D.C. correspondent for Law and Order, a national police …
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Department spokesman says the police would have continued D.A.R.E. if Rockwood School District insisted. Instead, the district, and the police department, will take a different approach.
Like several other local police departments, Chesterfield police won't be participating in a Drug Abuse Resistance Education program (D.A.R.E.) program in Rockwood schools next year. But Lt. Steve Lewis, spokesman for the Chesterfield Police, said reports that Rockwood eliminated the D.A.R.E. program because Chesterfield Police were not able to participate aren't entirely accurate. Lewis said he met with Rockwood administration in January to discuss the Chesterfield Police Department's involvement in D.A.R.E. going forward. Personnel changes meant that another officer would need to attend the two-week training program in order to teach the D.A.R.E. curriculum. If Rockwood wanted to continue the D.A.R.E. program, Chesterfield Police would …
A group of parents plan to ask at tonight's Board of Education meeting that the popular anti-drug education program re-instated next school year.
Some Rockwood School District parents say they are heading to the Rockwood Board of Education meeting this evening. But they are not going for something on the agenda. Instead, they plan to voice their concerns about the district's cancellation of the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program (D.A.R.E.). As reported Friday, parents and local police officers were caught off-guard when Rockwood officials told police department heads at a Thursday afternoon meeting the traditional D.A.R.E. program would be eliminated for future school years. The district offered an explanation Friday evening. During a recent segment on KSDK-TV Channel 5, it was reported a reason for eliminating D.A.R.E. was that police officers no longer could execute the …
Saturday, May 14, 2011
A Rockwood School District spokesperson explains what changes to drug education that district officials have in mind starting next school year.
Kim Cranston, Rockwood School District chief communications officer, responded Friday evening to Patch inquiries regarding the recent step to eliminate the drug education program called Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) program. "This is a change in an instructional model; not a change in our emphasis or focus on educating students about substance abuse and the importance of making good choices," she said. Beginning next school year, Cranston said district officials are expanding the scope of the instruction provided by the D.A.R.E. program to include students in kindergarten through fifth grade. "The D.A.R.E. program is limited to fifth grade students. We are doing this (the expansion) through our health curriculum, which already…
Friday, May 13, 2011
Rockwood School District parents are upset to discover district representatives decided Thursday to eliminate the popular drug-related education program traditionally provided to area fifth graders by local D.A.R.E. police officers.
Future Rockwood School District fifth graders will not be dared to graduate from the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) program, due to Rockwood officials deciding Thursday to end the district's nearly 25 years of participation in the national effort. News of eliminating the popular program shocked many parents. D.A.R.E. is a police officer-led series of classroom lessons that teaches children from kindergarten through twelfth grade how to resist peer pressure and live productive drug- and violence-free lives. Locally, the program has been executed during the fifth grade of elementary school, serving as a rites of passage for that important milestone year in students' education. Schools within the Rockwood District have …
Rachel Heaton
11:49 am on Friday, May 20, 2011
Via a comment on our Facebook page from Marjorie Schamburg Dellas: "I'm not sure that any of these programs reach the students in the way intended. Why are police officers teaching drug safety, anyway? Isn't the choice to use drugs dangerous, number one, because of the risks to our health, both mentally and physically? Police officers doing the teaching, leads young minds to contemplate the … more ›