Throughout the day Monday in the fine-arts auditorium at Cabot High School, with colorful lights swirling around the room, beach balls bouncing from person to person and students wearing matching shirts with the words “Refuse to Use” on the back, it was obvious this was not a typical school day.
The students of Cabot Middle School North were at the high school Monday morning, and Cabot Middle School South students were there in the afternoon, but they were all celebrating the same thing: PRiDE.
PRiDE — or Panthers Resisting Drugs Education — was designed to teach students about the dangers of drugs and to encourage them to refuse drugs in the face of peer pressure. Each year, middle school students attend a PRiDE Celebration at the high school to recognize their dedication to being drug free.
The emphasis for the program is being a winner, and the program’s master of ceremonies, Mickey Spillane, said everyone present is a winner if they are drug free. Spillane is the spouse of Tanya Spillane, principal of the Cabot Freshman Academy.
“Nobody’s a loser when you say ‘no’ to drugs,” Mickey Spillane said.
He gave examples of how people can be successful without drugs in their lives. He told the students that the police
officers and sheriff’s office deputies present at the PRiDE Celebration did not use drugs, and neither did the school’s teachers. Spillane also gave a personal account, saying that he depended on men during his time in the military and was glad they were not on drugs.
“I was with the United States Air Force for 30 years,” Spillane said. “I know successful. There’s a plaque in the Pentagon that says, ‘These people have done good’ and my name is on that plaque. Do you know what the Smithsonian Institution is? It’s the national museum, and there’s a trophy in there called the Mackay Trophy, and it has my name on it.
“Let me tell you a little bit about how that happened. We were in Iraq, and we were taking some cargo and some people and some patients to Baghdad. While we were flying, the bad guys decided they were going to take a missile shot at us, and they missed. They decided to take another one and another one. They shot at us five times. Do you think I wanted the guy that was flying the plane, or navigating the plane, or being an engineer on the plane to be on drugs?”
In addition to Spillane’s story, the Lonoke County Sheriff’s Office came out with some of its police dogs to demonstrate how dogs can sniff out drugs and how they can take down criminals. The Cabot Junior High School’s forensics teams also participated by sharing a reader’s-theater piece all about saying “no” to drugs.
“So, when dealing with drugs, you have to understand
that it all comes down to pride,” the Cabot Junior High South forensics team recited in the afternoon PRiDE Celebration. “You have to have pride in yourself and have pride in all that you do. That’s why we are here today — to say congratulations. Congratulations on working so hard this year to educate yourselves on the dangerous effects of alcohol and drugs.”
Throughout the event, students and teachers were brought on stage to play in games. The crowd cheered for their friends and teachers, and even though a winner was declared at the end of each match, Spillane made sure each participant walked away with a prize.
“Because everybody’s a winner when you say ‘no’ to drugs,” he said.
Staff writer Angela Spencer can be reached at (501) 244-4307 or aspencer@arkansasonline.com.