It was loud, boisterous and fun — but with a sobering edge. ADVERTISING It was loud, boisterous and fun — but with a sobering edge. Eight hundred middle and elementary students from Honokaa to Ka‘u rocked out, threw down some
It was loud, boisterous and fun — but with a sobering edge.
Eight hundred middle and elementary students from Honokaa to Ka‘u rocked out, threw down some dance moves and reflected on a year of drug awareness at the annual Drug Abuse Resistance Education celebration Thursday.
The high energy event, with games, prizes and speakers, was held at the Kekuaokalani Gym, where students were treated not just to gift certificates, pizza and comedians Kaleo Pilanca and Augie T, but also to a mock drunk driving chase, hit-and-run, helicopter evacuation and the Hawaii County Police Special Response Team converging on an uncooperative driver, weapons ready.
“This right here helps kids see visually what happens. Words can go over your head, but if you see this, you remember it forever,” Pilanca said.
Pilanca, who was emcee, had a T-shirt reading “No Do Da Batu” stuck in his belt and watched as firefighters tore the windshield out of a sedan and used the Jaws of Life to free a simulated trapped victim.
Point made, for many of the students who stood watching the sparks fly from the Jaws’ cutting wheel.
“It was a little freaky,” said Kealakehe Intermediate School sixth-grader Kona Resetnikov, as the thunder of the Hawaii County rescue helicopter died away.
One Waimea student said he’d learned not just about the perils of drinking and driving but also texting and driving. His awareness of drug issues was heightened when his older brother crashed his car while high on marijuana, he said.
“It’s good to learn what the police force has ready for us if we need it,” said Melanie Cornell, a science teacher at Konawaena Middle School. “The kids are excited. It’s definitely different from your average field trip.”
The celebration was a chance for students to interact in a positive way with two dozen police officers and reinforce messages about making good life choices, said event organizer Wyatt Nahale, a school resource officer at Konawaena Middle School.
The D.A.R.E program’s anti-drug and alcohol curriculum goes beyond resisting drugs, said Sgt. Roy Valera, a co-emcee. through techniques for self-assertion, students gain tools for making wise choices across other spectra of their lives, he said.
Naalehu fifth-grader Stormy Petitt said she’d learned it wasn’t a good idea to run away from the police, “because you’ll just get into more trouble than you already are.”
The event brought the best dancer from each school out onto the gym floor for a friendly competition. The crowd roared as 11-year-old Logan Werneck of Waikoloa and a half dozen other students busted out back flips, windmills and the moonwalk.
Logan, whose performance won him a bodyboard, a gift certificate from KTA Super Stores and a carry bag, said he learned the moves by watching movies and teaching himself — an example of the kind of hard work and sense of direction that Mayor Billy Kenoi alluded to in an address to the students. Kenoi urged the students to dream, work hard, never give up, and treat those around them with respect.
“The future leaders of our community are all of you,” Kenoi said. “The officers do what they do because of you.”
“A lot of people try to act strong,” he said. “They act like strength is to push people down. People I respect use strength to pull people up. That’s true strength and aloha.”
