If you are going to dial 911, make sure it's an emergency - that's the lesson Humboldt County Sheriff's Deputy and DARE Officer Victor Castaneda had for Grass Valley Elementary School fourth graders during a class last Friday.
Castaneda visits the school every Friday and makes routine stops at Paradise Valley Elementary School, too. There are also three deputies (Don Darlington, Kyle Negus and Casey Negus) who teach the DARE program at the rural schools (Denio, Kings River and McDermitt). Deputy Angel Cardenas coordinates the program and makes sure all of the county schools are visited on a regular basis.
The classes deal with everything from safety to rules and laws to decision making, Cardenas said. The program has been updated to cover the new standards in law enforcement, according to Sheriff Ed Kilgore.
"They revamped and modernized it," he said.
In the last few years, the program was refreshed with an evidence-based curriculum, according to Kilgore. In kindergarten through second grade, students are taught 15-minute lessons on safety. Topics include things like determining the difference between vitamins and medicine and how to properly use 911. Grades three and four focus on respect, responsibility and laws. Grades five and six are focused on the core curriculum - a nine-week program that covers the causes and effects of drug use and peer pressure.
Deputies don't just stick to the curriculum, though, Cardenas said. If there is an issue that needs to be addressed or that students have concerns or questions about, those topics can be covered as well.
"We will go beyond the program..." he said, "anything that affects them."
One of the most rewarding things about being a DARE officer, according to Cardenas, is the students will always remember their DARE officers.
"They will remember you forever," he said. "They can always call us and confide in us."
Cardenas and Kilgore agreed the program gives students the opportunity to see law enforcement in a good light, as opposed to just being seen as the "bad guys." Kilgore said the relationship formed with the students is so strong some will even maintain that relationship after they graduate from high school.
"We get to know people on a personal level," he said.
Cardenas said the sheriff's office has developed a presence at Grass Valley Elementary and it's no longer out of the ordinary to see deputies and/or the sheriff roaming the halls or walking around the campus.
Kilgore described the program as a "mutual relationship." He and the deputies are able to perform a rewarding service for the students and teachers and the schools get an added sense of security. Students know the sheriff and deputies by name and wave to them in the hallways; the less shy kids even give out hugs.
The respect and admiration the students have for the sheriff and deputies is evident in their excitement and enthusiasm, and that is what makes it worth it, according to Kilgore.
"If you save one, you've done your job," he said.[[In-content Ad]]
