G.R.E.A.T. Program

Gang Resistance Education and Training (G.R.E.A.T.) is a program taught to seventh graders in the Asheboro City Schools. The program provides students with skills to avoid gang membership, prevent violence and criminal activity, and develop a positive relationship with law enforcement. A uniformed police officer visits the students once a week for 13 weeks and shares with them information concerning facts and myths about gangs, students’ roles in their community, identifying and achieving goals, making good decisions, and many other life-skills topics.

The G.R.E.A.T. program has been taught in the city schools since 2007. The police officer, or instructor, for the program has to attend an 80-hour school to be certified to teach the curriculum. Officer W.R. “Russ” Smith is the G.R.E.A.T. instructor for the Asheboro Police Department. Smith received his certification during two-week training in Sumter, S.C.

Student must create and present a plan for a school or community service project to graduate from the program. Projects in the past have included raising money for bullet-proof vests for police dogs, donating canned foods to charity, removing gang graffiti from buildings, creating anti-violence posters, tutoring, and picking up trash at middle school campuses. Students showcase their acting skills during the program, practicing the skills that they have learned during weekly skits incorporated into the curriculum. More than 300 seventh graders participated in the program during fall 2009.

The G.R.E.A.T. program was created in Phoenix, AZ, in 1991, as a cooperative between police, educators, and community leaders. The cooperative was supported by funding from the United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF). The G.R.E.A.T. program is taught in more than 1400 communities nationwide. For more information about G.R.E.A.T., log on to www.great-online.org.