The Oakville Beaver Weekend, Saturday November 18, 2006 - 11 Students DARE to raise money on Halloween By the Grade 6 students ST. JOAN OF ARC ELEMENTARY SCHOOL O ct. 31 is a date we all know as Halloween. But, the people of the St. Joan of Arc Elementary School community will remember it also as the date of their 5th annual DARE Walk-a-thon. This year's theme was a Halloween costume parade. The whole school took part in raising money to support the DARE program by parading in costume around the school community. The costumes worn were a combination of the wild, wacky, wonderful and weird! The DARE program is run by Halton Regional Police and teaches Grade 6 students about the harmful effects of drugs, violence and peer pressure. DARE stands for Drug Abuse Resistance Education. Young students across North America learn about the negative consequences of drugs like alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana, from a DARE officer who visits their school for 10 weeks. Each lesson is 40 minutes long, and takes place once a week. The program targets Grade 6 students to prepare them for high school where they are most likely to experience pressure to use drugs. Students successfully complete the program by: participating in all the lessons, demonstrating good drug-free behaviour both during and outside of class; writing a DARE report and pledging to make wise decisions about alcohol, tobacco and other drugs. These students attend a DARE graduation ceremony, and join millions of other DARE students who have chosen to be drug-free. A secondary part of the DARE program involves raising money to ensure that future Grade 6 students have the opportunity to learn and participate in the program. Funds raised contribute to covering the costs of the program. Some of the costs include DARE booklets, videos, and officers' salaries. The DARE program also has other worthwhile fundraisers in the commu- nity. Presently there is a Kicks for Kids campaign. This involves Oakville's own Mike Vanderjagt of the NFL's Dallas Cowboys who is supporting DARE. Vanderjagt has generously pledged $100 for every successful field goal he makes this year. Here at St. Joan of Arc, a walk-a-thon to raise funds was chosen because walking is active and promotes a healthy lifestyle. Being involved in extracurricular activities is one way DARE suggests students avoid drugs. Not only did the Grade 6 students at St. Joan of Arc get involved in the walk-athon costume parade, but the entire school got involved and showed their support by raising money, dressing up and walking too. It was an absolute delight for the neighbourhood of the St. Joan of Arc community to see this parade on Halloween. This was an excellent way to combine the fun of Halloween with a most worthwhile cause. Miss Parisi's and Mr. Culhane's Grade 6 classes would like to give a special shout out to Const. Brenda Fraser, their DARE officer, and to all the staff, students and families of the St. Joan of Arc community who made the Halloween Walka-thon Parade of Costumes a spooktacular success. Turner wants government to expand pension-splitting Halton MP Garth Turner is calling on the Canadian government to end an unfairness in the recently announced pension-splitting rules. During Question Period last week in the House of Commons, Turner asked Finance Minister Jim Flaherty to "do the right thing" and allow soldiers, firefighters and other Canadians forced into early retirement by special-needs jobs to be able to split income with their spouses. Under guidelines released Oct. 31 by the Department of Finance, only Canadians over the age of 65 qualify for income-splitting benefits, which apply to registered pension plans, RRSPs and RRIFs. Those who qualify are able to allocate up to 50 per cent of their retirement income to a spouse or common-law partner. That income is then taxable in the spouse's hands at his or her lower marginal rate. For a couple with a household income of $40,000, pension-splitting can result in a savings of $2,000. "The move to allow pension-splitting by Canadian couples is long overdue and absolutely the right move," said Turner. "However, while the government is addressing an old tax unfairness with this move, it should not create a new one." ESL information night Canadian newcomer families are invited to an Information Night for English as a Second Language (ESL) families at Pope John Paul II School Wednesday, Nov. 22, from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Families will be provided with information about the programs, services and resources available in the community. The evening will also be an opportunity for families to meet other ESL families from the Parish schools. Pope John Paul II School is located at 2130 Kingsridge Dr.