Sixth Graders Graduate from Gang Awareness Program

The Brackman School's sixth grade class closed out the week Friday with a graduation ceremony that marked the end of a multi-week gang prevention curriculum.

The school partnered with the Barnegat Township Police Department and the Office of the Ocean County Prosecutor to offer the Gang Resistance Education And Training (G.R.E.A.T.) program for the first time in Barnegat, said Brackman principal Stephen Nichol.

Officer Mark Bernstein of the Barnegat Township Police Department led the course, which aims to teach students a number of skills, from goal-making and effective communication to how to refuse getting involved and how to deal with anger. 

The program, developed by police and experts in education and psychology, is designed "to help youth develop positive life skills that will help them avoid gang involvement and violent behavior," Bernstein said. The community-wide approach brings police and schools together, incorporating a uniformed officer into the students' health curriculum.

Barnegat Board of Education President Lisa Becker, who attended the graduation ceremony along with other board members, school officials, local police and prosecutors, said Barnegat is only the second Ocean County school district to incorporate the program into its curriculum.