Thirty-one more law enforcement officers were graduated Jan. 28 from the D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) training program at the Masonic Conference Center on the Patton Campus. With this graduation, the total number of law enforcement officers trained courtesy of the Pennsylvania Masonic Foundation for Children is more than 500. Among the graduating class were two more members of the Fraternity.

Two more D.A.R.E. training classes are planned for 2000, along with middle school mentor training to expand the program into the upper grades. The support of the Pennsylvania Masons makes it possible for more and smaller communities of the Commonwealth to have this vital program taught in their schools.

The addition of the Samuel C. Williamson Multimedia Center at Memorial Hall, along with the upgrading of all of the facilities at the Patton Campus, gives law enforcement personnel of Pennsylvania the most modern training center for D.A.R.E. and G.R.E.A.T. (Gang Resistance Education and Training) on the East Coast.