Standing tall against drugs just makes cents at Silver Crest Elementary

Students at Silver Crest Elementary School recently showed that every inch and every penny counts in the fight against drugs.

As part of their Red Ribbon Week, these elementary school students held a penny drive. Their theme was: “Standing tall against drugs just makes cents.” The students were encouraged to donate a penny for every inch of their height. At the end of the week, the students showed the height of their character by proudly presenting $506.50 to their DARE officer, Jeff West. The money will be used for the local DARE program.

West, who has been involved with the DARE program for 16 years, said he likes everything about the program. He is in the classroom every day and loves every minute of it.

“We teach kids to say no to drugs and to make good choices...along with Stranger Danger and safety rules and things like that,” he said.

Some student council members shared some of the things they’ve learned so far in their DARE class:

“DARE helps me learn not to be bad.”

“We do fun things so we can say no to drugs”

“I like the singing and learning about saying no to drugs.”

While they enjoyed the traditional activities and dress-up days of Red Ribbon Week, the students really enjoyed the penny drive.

“This was a great opportunity for the students to give back to a program that gives to them,” Chant Williams, penny drive PTA chairman, said.

He was amazed by how much they were able to collect in such a short time. “The kids had fun, and we definitely want to do this again next year,” he said.