It was a small moment in a hallway, but Clark County Sheriff Bill Brown saw it for exactly what it was. A fifth grader spotted Deputy Jeremiah Hanley walking through Martinsville Elementary School — the same deputy who had stood in front of that student's class just days earlier — and called out, "Hi, Deputy Jeremiah." To the sheriff, that was all the proof he needed.

"That's success," Brown said. "They've recognized him. They're making a relationship with him. They're making a relationship with law enforcement — and those connections are super important in life."

That hallway greeting was an early dividend from something Clark County has been working toward for a while: the return of the DARE program. Drug Abuse Resistance Education is back in Martinsville Elementary School, with Deputy Hanley leading the charge as the county's newly certified DARE Officer — and the first class of fifth graders is already underway.

The road to getting here wasn't a short one. Hanley spent the last two weeks of February in Lincoln, Illinois, completing 80 hours of classroom training through DARE America — the national organization that traces its origins back to the Los Angeles Police Department. The course isn't a rubber stamp. Twenty officers enrolled. Only 19 graduated. Hanley passed four separate practical evaluations, each requiring him to prepare and deliver a presentation on the material. "They take it seriously," he said. "It's not guaranteed that you pass when you go."

The training cost was largely absorbed by timing and good fortune. The registration fee was waived, and the remaining expenses — hotel, meals, mileage, and salary — were covered through the sheriff's office budget. Brown didn't hesitate. When Hanley volunteered as they were talking through the idea of reviving DARE in Clark County, the answer was an easy yes.

What Hanley came back with surprised even those familiar with the old program. DARE today looks considerably different from the version many adults remember — the one where an officer held up drug paraphernalia and said what to avoid. "DARE doesn't do that anymore," Hanley said. Of the 10-week curriculum, only one lesson directly addresses alcohol, drugs, tobacco, and vaping. The rest is something broader and, in many ways, more useful.

The lessons cover risks and consequences, dealing with stressful situations, basic communication skills, nonverbal communication and listening, bullying, helping others, and getting help from others. "It's way more based around making smart decisions," Hanley explained, "and teaching them to think about, okay, this is a risk — what could be my possible consequences? In everything, in every aspect."

Vaping gets particular emphasis when the substance lesson arrives. "The schools are already dealing with sixth, seventh, and eighth graders vaping," Brown noted. Getting to fifth graders before that exposure becomes routine is part of the strategy.

The program also checks boxes for classroom teachers in ways that extend its reach beyond Hanley's one day a week in the building. Topics like communication and risk awareness align with state requirements fifth grade teachers are already expected to cover. Both teachers have already woven the DARE workbook's journal prompts into their regular English homework, making the lessons part of daily life.

One moment from a fellow instructor's experience stuck with Hanley. During a bullying lesson, students began approaching the officer — not with complaints about being bullied, but with a different kind of confession. "I didn't even realize I was bullying people," some said, "until somebody explained to me what I was doing." Hanley reflected on it simply: "It even helps the bully, not just the person being bullied."

By fall, the program expands to all three school districts in Clark County — Martinsville, Marshall, and Casey — reaching several hundred fifth graders county-wide. For now, the 36 fifth graders at Martinsville Elementary are the first to go through it, and at the end of the 10 weeks, a graduation ceremony awaits them.

Hanley himself went through DARE as a fifth grader. When he completed his officer training, he tracked down his old DARE officer — now a sheriff in another county — and sent him a note. The affirmation came back across the years. Brown held onto that story as evidence of what they're building. "If one child takes to the program and it makes a difference in their life," he said, "then it's worth every dime of money and every minute of time that was invested in them."