DARE Essay

I am speechless right now, which is exactly why I'm typing, not talking. Well, I am overjoyed about some of the wonderful news I heard at school today. So, our 5th grade class just finished a program called DARE which stands for Drug Abuse Resistance Education. It's when a police Sargent comes in to teach the class about drugs, alcohol, and smoking. Over the past year, DARE has taught me so much. That's why at the end of the program, everyone in the class was supposed to write a DARE essay to reflect on the learning experience. There are four schools in our district and of course like the rest of life, there's a winner. We presented the reports on Wednesday and my homeroom teacher announced the classroom winner. On Friday afternoon, she said, "Drum-roll please," so everyone banged on their desks and then she exclaimed, "Lauren!" I couldn't believe what I had just heard! I was NOT expecting that to happen! Well, while the rest of the kids were taken down to lunch, I silently rehearsed my essay in the classroom. My teacher came back, gave me a big congratulations hug, and we went into another homeroom, my social studies teacher's. There were other winners there too: two other girls and a boy. They were the winners from all the other classrooms. So, one by one, we listened to each others' essays and all the teachers were watching, so was the school principal! Well, as you could imagine, I was scared... horrified! Luckily I didn't freak out too much and everything was fine. The next day (today), when we were walking in from recess, all the 5th grade teachers told the kids to go back into the courtyard where we had come from. There's picnic tables and a garden in there. So, we all sat down and the teachers lined themselves up. One by one, the homeroom DARE winners were called up. We each received a DARE medal and the whole grade clapped and yelled. Next, everyone quieted down. It was time for the 'big winner' to be announced. It felt like everything was happening in slow motion. I looked at my competitors who were crossing their fingers and closing their eyes. I just stood there and one of my teachers shouted, "LAUREN!!" I was shocked and thrilled at the same time. All my friends congratulated me and I felt on the top of the world. The teachers shook my hands and while walking into the building, I felt like the president or something. All the other kids were asking my questions and shaking my hands! I was amazed. Well, since I won, I am going to rehearse later on. I need to read my DARE report aloud to the whole school district. Yep, you heard me... everyone: the teachers, principals, siblings, parents, my classmates, and the middle school principal! I am so happy it's not even funny. Well, I need to go practice so I'll blog later. Thanks for reading such a long post with a lot of exclamation points>>!!!