D.A.R.E. graduates honored

Photo/Tracey Putrino

The sixth-grade D.A.R.E. graduates at Memorial Middle School are joined by members of the Fair Lawn Police Department and school officials on Nov. 14.

Fair Lawn - The sixth-graders graduating from the D.A.R.E. program at Memorial Middle School were given some advice about making good choices by someone who once sat in their seats.

During the graduation ceremony on Nov. 14, Jeff Laniado, a graduate of the middle school, shared his story of how drugs and alcohol impacted his life. He said D.A.R.E. can lay the framework for making good decisions.

"I did not practice those skills," he said.

The 10-week program is taught by D.A.R.E. Officers Eric Eleshewich, Gerard Graziano, Michael O'Brien and Christopher Siano in health classes. It is aimed at teaching students how to resist peer pressure and make good decision regarding drugs and violence.

Sgt. Brian Metzler, the department's D.A.R.E. coordinator, warned students that as they get older they will face situations where they need to use the skills they have learned in order to make good choices.

Laniado was first exposed to alcohol while in high school. He said he later started smoking marijuana every day and then progressed to other drugs.

"I was surrounding myself with people who were doing the same thing," he said.

While in college he was arrested at the age of 19.

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D.A.R.E. graduates honored