DARE Student Wins $1,000 Scholarship

The local police force’s Drug Abuse Resistance Education unit will award a $1,000 scholarship certificate to the first of two Conejo Valley students at noon today at Redwood Middle School.

Receiving the certificate will be 12-year-old Janet Galeria of Thousand Oaks who last year was one of six Conejo Valley School District sixth-graders who submitted a scholastic resume and wrote an essay about the importance of education in living a drug-free life.

Next month, officers will present Thousand Oaks High School freshman Rick Yantek with his certificate. While attending Colina Middle School last year, Rick, 14, was the only eighth-grader to submit an application and essay to DARE.

DARE began the program last year to recognize a sixth- and eighth-grade student who have displayed an outstanding commitment to the DARE philosophy of being free from drug and gang influence. Upon graduation from high school, scholarship winners will receive their money as long as they’ve remained drug free, stayed away from gang involvement, have maintained a 2.5 grade-point average and have been accepted into a college or are continuing their education, said Deputy Mike Baker, a DARE officer at the Thousand Oaks sheriff’s station.

DARE will begin accepting applications for next year’s winners later this year. Baker said he expects more students to apply because schools will be getting the word out to parents through fliers.