U.S. Attorney’s Office Spreads Anti-Drug/Anti-Gang Message During Reading Program for Kindergarten Students at a Dallas Elementary School

DALLAS — Representatives from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas were welcomed today at Gabe Allen Elementary School in west Dallas, where they were invited to read to kindergartners.

As part of the District’s crime prevention and community outreach activities, U.S. Attorney’s Office representatives took the Justice Department’s anti-drug/anti-gang messaging to kindergarten classes at the school using the Rotary Club of Dallas’s “I Like Me” book program.  Today, each student received a personalized “I Like Me” book that encourages them to be good and take the right paths in life, such as saying no to drugs and gangs – making it a perfect tool for law enforcement personnel to use to interact positively with children. 

Each personalized book features that student as a central character in the book, as well as the names of the student’s two best friends, their teacher, and their school.  Personalizing the book enhances the student’s self-esteem, helps develop a joy of reading, and overcomes the disinterest some students experience due to their inability to relate to the people in other stories.  Since 1993, over half a million children around the world have participated in the “I Like Me” program. 

This program is just another example of the partnerships that community groups and law enforcement undertake to build mutual trust and make our communities a safer place for all of us to live.

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