WINONA LAKE — Incoming eighth-grade students for the 2016-17 year at Lakeland Christian Academy will be required to participate in the DARE program. DARE is a police officer-led series of classroom lessons that teaches children from kindergarten through twelfth grade to resist peer pressure and live productive drug and violence-free lives.

Winona Lake Town Marshall Joe Hawn has had 17 years experience teaching the DARE program in Warsaw. He will now be teaching the class at LCA. Hawn approached Scott Wiley, director of development at LCA, about starting this program there. Previously, they had never had a DARE program.

Hawn mentioned one of the reasons he wanted to teach DARE at LCA is because he believes that the issues discussed in this program are, “Going to be a part of everyone’s life,” said Hawn.

The first DARE in Kosciusko County began in 1989. Hawn mentioned that the classes at Warsaw have been, “A huge success.”

Wiley emphasized that a huge part of the reason the classes have done so well is because of the people in the program. “It wasn’t just because of the program-it’s the great people,” said Wiley.

Hawn mentioned he hopes to expand the program to eventually adding a class for tenth graders as well. DARE has recently finished working on a high school program, and he feels this could be a great refresher course for high school students.