RUMFORD – Standing stiff, proud and rigid in his pressed blue and gray uniform Friday night, Maine Trooper Terrance James looked as if he was about to write someone a ticket.

But despite his stoic demeanor, James, the guest speaker at SAD 43’s Drug Abuse Resistance Education graduation at Mountain Valley High School, shared a fun-laced message about growing up and acting responsibly.

“This is your rite of passage tonight, the point in time when you start growing up and when social groups outside of your family become very important to you,” James said. “Be proud of who you are and where you come from. Your friends, families and communities need you more than ever.”

One hundred and seventy fifth-graders from SAD 43 schools and Peru Elementary School listened to and laughed with James as he poked fun at parents and parenting while imparting snippets of wisdom.

“The hardest thing in life is to find the right words when you need them the most. Accept responsibility with a good attitude and meet life head on,” he said.

Nine youngsters did just that, overcoming large doses of stage fright as one by one, they stepped up to a microphone and rattled off their winning essays about the 17-week DARE program.

“If I were to get addicted to drugs or doing lots of violence, I’d grow up to be a bad influence to my kids and others and they might grow up to be like that,” said Margaret Gamble, a student at St. Athanasius and St. John School. “That’s one of the last things we need, more people like that.”

Others, such as Meroby Elementary School student Tori Bohren, stressed the need for parental reinforcement and programs like DARE, to educate youths about drugs, violence, peer pressure, stress and consequences.

“I learned about drugs and violence at my house because we are often talking about teenagers in my brother’s classes who do these things and how they are making bad decisions in their lives,” Bohren said. “Staying drug free can help you reach the goals that you have in life. I would like to be involved with dance and if I stay drug-free, then I have a better chance of succeeding in my goal to be involved with dance.”

In addition to thanking their parents, many of the students remembered their teachers, officer Douglas Maifeld, Sgt. Tracey Higley and Oxford County Sgt. Tim Holland.

“Thanks to officer Higley and the DARE program, I know I have a voice,” said Virginia Elementary School student Brittany Garcia. “I will make the right choice if I say, ‘No!’ I have my whole life ahead of me, so I’m not going to make a stupid choice that could kill me or ruin my life.”

Ashley Payne, a Meroby student, thanked Maifeld for teaching “me stuff that I had no clue about. DARE is not just about drugs, alcohol or peer pressure. It’s about life, so that is why I am going to stay drug free and I hope you do, too.”

tkarkos@sunjournal.com