Erica O’Neal, Managing Editor

 

CORDELE– Crisp Academy held their C.H.A.M.P.S. Graduation ceremony on Wednesday, April 4 in the basketball court. The Crisp County Sheriff’s Office had been coming into the classroom for the last 12 weeks teaching students the importance of making good choices. At Crisp Academy, both 5^th and 6^th graders go through the program every year, which means students have the opportunity to go through it twice.

District Attorney Brad Rigby was the guest speaker at the graduation ceremony. Rigby talked about how important it is for students to make the right decision and congratulated students for finishing the program.

Choosing Healthy Activities and Methods Promoting Safety (C.H.A.M.P.S.) is an educational program developed and implemented by the Georgia Sheriff’s Association in 2003. The program’s mission statement is “to provide an educational program for Georgia’s youth, which provides guidance, and the skills, ability and knowledge to be safe, healthy, and happy in preparation for a successful life.”

Some of the lessons the program teaches are how to be safe with hunting, firearm safety, ATV safety, etc. as well as subjects against harmful things such as bullying, gangs, prescription drug abuse, and more.

Certified Sheriff’s Deputies who have completed C.H.A.M.P.S. Instructor training teach the C.H.A.M.P.S. program to students.

Crisp County Sheriff’s Deputy Chris Patterson presented medals to the C.H.A.M.P.S. poster and essay winners and a stuffed animal dog to the STAR winners.

Below are the winners from the ceremony:

5th Grade Poster: Emmanual Rios-Cruz

6th Grade Poster: Brianna Mauldin

5th Grade Essay: Celia Hardin
6th Grade Essay: Graham Harrod
5th Grade Star Student: Isabella Rainey
6th Grade Star Student: Lana Ellis