Eighteen kindergartners sat cross-legged on the rug in their Radio Park Elementary School classroom recently as Buttons and Bows McKitty, Myth Mary and Donovan Owl tackled the thorny question of how to react when rain ruins picnic plans. In June, the school district approved a five-year contract with the Y, which is providing the program for free. Nathan Arnett made a beeline for Early Bird, a tall pink puppet with a lemon-yellow beak and long yellow legs. Which is neat because younger children watch and copy the older ones. My thought has always been to take something to kids as early as you can.
Lawmakers apparently agree.
Since 1990, state law has required schools to present lessons at each grade level aimed at preventing abuse of drugs, alcohol and tobacco. The other four districts in Centre County use similar programs. The curriculum tries to show children there are alternate ways to deal with problems, Qassem said, and targets teen pregnancy prevention and teen violence as well as drug and alcohol use. Laura Crowley of Boalsburg said the lesson about peer pressure stuck with her son, Tyler, now a first-grader at Panorama Elementary School. And any time you can sneak some values in under their radar, that's always good.