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5th Grade Students at St. Mary's School Learn Valuable Lessons with DARE Program

On Wednesday, December 8th, 5th grade students from St. Mary Catholic Community School in Crown Point graduated from the DARE program. DARE, taught by Crown Point Police Officer Stanko Gligic, is a 10-week program which teaches students the importance of saying no to drugs and alcohol, recognizing the signs of bullying and teaches positive ways to make good decisions.

At the culmination of the program, students were asked to write an essay about their experience in DARE class and each student was awarded a certificate. Maeve Scott, Desmond Moses, Lucas Raloff and Jessica Berns were selected to read their essays at graduation. Two fifth graders, Brielle Cipowski and Dominic Buondonna both said, “We learned the negative consequences of drugs and alcohol and feel more confident in being able to walk away from a bad situation.” Overall, each student took away a valuable lesson from the DARE program. “I feel that the lessons learned in DARE are ones that I won’t forget and will carry with me in the future, “said student Riley Ross.



Desmond Moses delivers his winning essay to the 5th grade at St. Mary Catholic Community School.

Principal Tom Ruiz, Isabella Gonzalez, Desmond Moses, Maeve Scott, Officer Stanko Gligic, Jessica Berns, Lucas Raloff

Jessica Berns delivers her winning essay to the 5th grade at St. Mary Catholic Community School.


St. Mary Catholic Community School in Crown Point offers grade levels Junior Pre-Kindergarten (for three-year-olds) through grade eight. St. Mary’s faculty teaches a rich curriculum supported by cutting-edge technology. To learn more about St. Mary School’s upcoming Open House events on January 26th and January 30th, visit stmarycp.org/school.


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