Full Notification

The Santa Maria Police Department in conjunction with the Santa Maria Bonita School District is having a D.A.R.E. Graduation. This year's D.A.R.E. graduation ceremony will be held at the Santa Maria Elks Lodge on Friday May 24, 2019, beginning at 9:00 am. The Santa Maria Police Department started teaching D.A.R.E. in fall of 1991. A network was formed between the schools and the police department. This ceremony will include the 10 Santa Maria Schools that completed the D.A.R.E. program this semester. We will have about 1000 students graduating at this ceremony. Over the 2018-2019 school year, the D.A.R.E program was taught at 18 schools to over 1900 students.

The Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) program is the most comprehensive drug prevention curricula in the world taught in thousands of schools throughout America’s 50 states and its territories, as well as in 50+ other countries reaching more than 1.5 million students annually.

This year's keynote speaker will be RETRO BILL the Official International D.A.R.E. Safety & Self-Esteem Buddy. RETRO BILL has been a longtime friend and supporter of the Santa Maria Police Department D.A.R.E. program. This is his 16th consecutive year as the keynote speaker for the Santa Maria Police Department D.A.R.E. program.

Any questions may be directed to Officer Mike Wheeler at the Santa Maria Police Department, 928-3781 ext. 1156.