Hixson Middle School marked a milestone Dec. 17 as students, educators and law enforcement leaders gathered to celebrate the school’s first-ever D.A.R.E. graduation ceremony, signaling the program’s growing footprint in Hamilton County classrooms.
Hosted by the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office in partnership with Hixson Middle School’s administration, the ceremony honored 160 students who completed the Drug Abuse Resistance Education curriculum during the past academic year. The event brought together Sheriff Austin Garrett, School Resource Deputy and D.A.R.E. instructor Monica Mills and members of the Sheriff’s Office School Resource Deputy Unit to recognize the students’ achievement and the program’s formal introduction at the school.
This inaugural graduating class represents the first year D.A.R.E. has been taught at Hixson Middle School, a development that local officials say reflects a broader effort to reestablish prevention-based education across the county.
Since the program was reinstated in Hamilton County in 2022, participation has steadily expanded, with approximately 1,160 students expected to complete the curriculum countywide by the end of the current school year.
For the Sheriff’s Office, the ceremony marked more than a symbolic conclusion to a classroom program. It underscored what Garrett described as a critical response to the challenges facing young people both locally and nationwide.
“This is the first D.A.R.E. graduation to take place at Hixson Middle School – and it’s already become an important part of the school’s curriculum,” Garrett said in a statement. “My administration recognizes the significant impact of the D.A.R.E. Program, not only in preventing drug use among our youth, but also in instilling essential life skills and values.”
Garrett pointed to the broader context driving the program’s expansion, citing rising overdose rates and the increasing complexity of peer-related pressures students encounter at a young age.
“With the alarming volume of overdoses both statewide and nationwide, as well as peer-related issues our students are facing, there has never been a more critical time to expand the D.A.R.E. Program in Hamilton County,” he said.
At Hixson Middle School, D.A.R.E. instruction was led by School Resource Deputy Monica Mills, who serves in the dual role of campus law enforcement presence and classroom educator. Through structured lessons, students are introduced to strategies for resisting drugs and alcohol while also developing decision-making, communication and problem-solving skills designed to carry over into everyday life.
The D.A.R.E. program has long been a familiar name in schools nationwide, but its reintroduction in Hamilton County over the past several years reflects a renewed emphasis on early intervention and community-based prevention. By embedding the program within the school environment and pairing it with trained school resource deputies, officials aim to reach students before risky behaviors take root.
The Sheriff’s Office credited the success of the inaugural program at Hixson Middle School to close collaboration with educators, administrators and the Hamilton County Department of Education. School leaders worked alongside law enforcement to integrate the curriculum into the academic year and ensure students had consistent exposure to its lessons.
In a statement, the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office extended its appreciation to the administration and staff of Hixson Middle School, as well as the county’s Department of Education, for their continued support of D.A.R.E. and related prevention efforts.
Source: HCSO