FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Friday, June 21, 2024
Contact: Tony Mangan, Communications Director, 605-773-6878
PIERRE, S.D. – South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley recognizes the 21 law enforcement officers from five states who graduated Friday from the two-week Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) instructor training held at the state’s George S. Mickelson Criminal Justice Center in Pierre.
“These new D.A.R.E. instructors will now go into the classroom and teach children in elementary and middle school classes how to resist peer pressure and live productive lives free from harmful drugs and violence,” said Attorney General Jackley. “This course is all about protecting our children.”
Participants spent more than 100 hours during the two weeks working on their classroom presentations and speaking skills. Graduation from the class qualifies the officers to teach the D.A.R.E. curriculum in their local schools.
The officers were from agencies in South Dakota, Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota, and Wyoming, who attended the training which started June 10. Three mentors and one educator taught the course.
Those graduating from D.A.R.E were Ryan Bakeberg, Milbank Police Department; Ashley Celander, Williams County Sheriff’s Office, North Dakota; Matt Haugen, Custer County Sheriff’s Office; Ian MacDonald, Marshall County Sheriff’s Office; JP McClellan, Williston Police Department, North Dakota; David Smith, Platte County Sheriff’s Office, Wyoming; Forest Athey, Huron Police Department; Riley Christie, Fall River County Sheriff’s Office; Bailey DeNoyer, Rosebud Police Department; Robert Fowlkes, North Platte Police Department, Nebraska; Orie Goudge, New Town Police Department, North Dakota; Austin Searles, Sisseton Police Department; Kanuani Valencia, Aberdeen Police Department; Joshua Buntain, Sturgis Police Department; Chase Cook, Williston Police Department, North Dakota; Luke Kitzmiller, University of South Dakota Police Department; Lionel Morningstar, Aberdeen Police Department; Marandah Scott, Prairie Village Police Department, Kansas; Mitchell Stanley, Vermillion Police Department; Brandon Webb, Deadwood Police Department.
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