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WHEREAS the D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) program is the world's largest and most successful educational drug prevention program for school-aged children; and
WHEREAS through the D.A.R.E. program, specially trained police officers provide children in 14,000 communities located throughout the United States and 54 foreign countries world-wide with the decision-making and problem-solving skills that they need in order to live a life that is both drug and violence free; and
WHEREAS locally, the D.A.R.E. program consists of a ten-week course taught by specially trained D.A.R.E. officers from the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police who conduct the program in both the Pittsburgh Public Schools and various parochial schools that are part of the Catholic Diocese; and
WHEREAS the final event for this year's local D.A.R.E. Program will be the "D.A.R.E. Culmination Ceremony" which will take place on May 20th, 2008 from 10:30 a.m. until 1:00 p.m. at Heinz Field; and
WHEREAS this year's Culmination Ceremony will be the largest in the history of D.A.R.E. America, with 2,300 fourth, fifth, and sixth grade students from forty-seven, local elementary schools celebrating their successful graduation from the D.A.R.E. program; and
WHEREAS the families and friends of these successful students will also be joined by Pittsburgh Police Chief Nathan E. Harper, the City of Pittsburgh's Mayor Luke Ravenstahl, and many other local, state, and law enforcement officials, all of whom will gather to commend and applaud the accomplishments of this year's D.A.R.E. program graduates.
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NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Council of the City of Pittsburgh does hereby wish to congratulate this year's D.A.R.E. program graduates, their families, the D.A.R.E. officers, and all other D.A.R.E. program staff for their enthusiastic efforts to improve the wellbeing of our City both in the present and for generations yet to come.