Deputy Don Thank You Letters

Ok, another year has gone by and finally I have you as my DARE officer at French. You are so awesome that everybody likes you, and you are fun too. My brother wants a rematch at BB this year. He says that you cheated when you quit after taking the lead during the game. I do the same so do not feel bad. He just gets upset and gets over it. Not with you huh? See you when school starts.

Kellie



To my favorite person Deputy Don by Nathaniel.

You are my favorite person. Whenever you come to my class, it makes my heart get wider and wider and it makes my day better. You are the coolest person in the world. Please come back to the school on a day that sounds good for you, and if you have time go to Miss Hovland's class. I am in her home room.

Your friend, Nathaniel

---Nathaniels letter was in my box at one of my schools. It was a thank you card for coming to his class to read. Thank you Nathaniel for the kind letter. You're an awesome 4th grader that I'm really proud to know. Your letter was given to me the day that I went to the police funeral, and it really made me feel good inside. Thank you!



Dear Deputy Don:

Thank you for taking me to Loaf n Jug for slurpies. Thank you for everything you have done for me. Your Student, Brandon T.



Deputy Don:

Thank you for all you do. Your best friend, Dylan (Talbott 6th grade)





Deputy Don:

This will be my last posting on your website. I would like to thank you for all you do for your students. I especially want to thank you for helping me thru my journey into jr. high, and high school. You believed in me when I thought nobody else did. When my parents were getting a divorce I thought the whole world was falling apart. I do not think you know how much the daily phone calls meant to me. Looking back, I was very fortunate to have a friend like you that not only took the time to be there, but probably more importantly just to listen. As I move on to the Colorado School of Mines, I want you to know that you played a BIG part in motivating me and encouraging me to take this leap. I will never forget you.

In closing, You have been like a dad to me and I really hope that someday I will make you proud. I will succeed! Also, I hope you do not get mad, because I used your logon to this site to write this. The one you created would not allow me to edit this page. Hey, and if you get angry...too bad, because I'm to far away for the usual paybacks! Ha :}

Take Care my friend, and I'll see you in December!

Andrew J. Kingston








Dear Deputy Don R.

I wanted to thank you on your web site too. I have known you for about 10 years. When I was in 5th grade, you were about as close of a friend as any kid could want. Especially when my dad was never around. He was around, but paid little attention to me or my baby sister. My mother loved me a lot, but she was not a dad. I always wanted you to be my father when I needed a dad for scouts, or when I wanted to play baseball. There were nights when I would cry myself to sleep. That's right I cried myself to sleep. Many people who will read this will think that I was probably a sissy or baby for crying. Well, I played tuff, but I really wanted a father, and you were as close to being my dad as anyone. You listened to me every Wednesday when you came to my school, and took me to dinner when I got my grades up. They were really bad for a long time. My mom use to blame my dad for my bad grades, but now I realize that it was my fault. I remember the talk we had a Golden Bell late one night. You told me to start taking responsibility for myself, and stop making excuses for all the bad things that have happened to me. I heard you, but it really did not get into my head until 7th grade at Watson Junior High. I then realized that you were right, but it was different now, because I did not see you as often as I would have liked. Anyway, I wanted to tell you that I have always thought highly of you, and often think of you. Your own kids are very fortunate to have you as a father. Thanks again for all you have done not only for me, but for all your students and friends. Always, Dustin





My Thank You to Deputy Don and other D.A.R.E. Officers:

I want to thank all the D.A.R.E. officers that work with kids. My name is Jason and I graduated from D.A.R.E. in 1995 and had Deputy Don as my D.A.R.E. officer. He was really cool then and still is now. As I get older, I have noticed that friends come and go, but "Deputy Don" has always been there for me. Through the Internet, I can tell you about myself and how D.A.R.E. has helped me.

First, when I was in third grade my father was arrested for hurting my mom and me. After about six months of going back to court, he was sent to jail for almost a year. My grades dropped and I felt that nobody really cared about me. I really did not talk to people or did I really care about anything. I remember that one day we had an assembly at school, and I got to sit next to Deputy Don. Everyone wanted to sit next to him, but I got lucky. He did not know me, but I sure knew him. He was the police officer that gave out trading cards at school. Little did I know then that this would be the beginning of an important relationship. Deputy Don spent most of his time with the older kids but that did not bother me much, because I would meet him by his patrol car after school. We became friends and he would always just listen to me. I probably said a lot of stupid things but he would always listen.

When I got into fifth grade, I stayed after school with Deputy Don and two other students to trade trading cards and just goof around. That was fun. I still look back at that time and remember how much I wish that Deputy Don could be my father. My mom still reminds me of the days that I would come home crying because he (DD) would spend some time with other students. By this time, my dad was out of jail, but was never around my mom or me much. He eventually moved somewhere near Greeley, Colorado.

Anyway, sixth grade was a blast. When we went to Bear Trap Ranch for outdoor education. Deputy Don was in my cabin. We stayed up all night and talked and played chess. We were tired in the morning. That trip was the highlight of sixth grade. That year was fun, and the D.A.R.E. graduation was really cool. I remember how I got to play the lead role in the skit. My only problem was after graduation. I remember that after graduation, I realized that D.A.R.E. was over and that I may not see Deputy Don again (he does not teach the junior high school here). I was right. I did not see Deputy Don as much after graduation, but we stayed in touch.

About 3 months ago, Deputy Don came to me and asked me to help him with his web page. I was siked and thought that it would be fun. Well, here I am. I really have to say that Deputy Don has really been there when things have been bad for me and is like a father away from home. I can always call him and just talk. I have friends my own age to, but he is really cool.

By the way, did you know that Deputy Don won D.A.R.E. Officer of the Year for the State of Colorado? He will not put that on this web page, so I had to do it. I?m going to do an entire page on this real soon. So if you never see my name on this site again, I was fired. :}

Deputy Don: Thank you for being such a good friend. Not only to me but also to all the kids you work with everyday. They may never tell you, but they need you like I did and still sometimes do.

Your Friend, Jason K.





Dear Deputy Don:

You are the best! We had a great time with you at Bear Trap Ranch this year. Thank you for being our friend!

Bye, Cherise M.





This thank you was submitted by James S. way out in Falcon, Colorado. James said that he was a student in the Widefield School District when he was in third grade. He is currently in ninth grade.

Dear Mr. Deputy Don:

Thank you for being my D.A.R.E. Officer at North Elementary. You were cool, and lots of fun. I really liked getting football cards from you. Sometimes my brother got more than I did, and he sometimes shared with me. Oh yeah, my parents said that you have a "cool web site".

Your old D.A.R.E. student, James S.





Dear Deputy Don:

Hey...Cool web site. I just wanted to say thanks too! By the way, you probably will remember me as the student that painted your hair orange at the Bronco Game during Red Ribbon Week. You looked pretty awesome with your hair colored. Thanks for taking me and the other students to that game. We had fun. Your friend "Always", Denise R.





Hey Deputy Don:

First, thanks for being a cool friend. You will probably figure out who I am, but I really don't want you to know who I am. I don't think that you will ever know how much you have meant to me and my brother. People talk about D.A.R.E. being a drug program that does not work, etc. Well, I don't really care about D.A.R.E. Well, I do, but that is not all of it. You were a officer that came to our school and was friends with all of us. It was really strange at first seeing you in school. We all got over it, and eventually became friends with you. You even got to know a student in my class that was, I think different. You treated him very fairly, although often he was really a jerk to others and talked behind your back. I think deep down he respected you. He would never say that. Ok, enough. I just wanted to say Thank You and I'm glad I got to know you. If you think you can figure this out. Just try. I don't use my real email. It is a friends. So there! Your Friend, Guess who?





Deputy Don:

I just want to express in words what most of us 6th graders feel. Deputy Don is a person that we can look up to as a good example. This is more than, "just a job" for Deputy Don. He really cares about us kids. Most adults that become famous sports stars and movie stars don't practice what they preach. They smoke, drink, or do drugs.

Deputy Don is different, and a good role model. He has been at Talbott Elementary and a part of our lives for many years. Even when we were younger, he would come out to the playground and give us baseball cards and play ball with us. Now that we are graduating from D.A.R.E. and elementary school, I just want to say, "we do appreciate you". We are going to miss you Deputy Don. Thank you for all the years you really cared.

The Talbott Graduating D.A.R.E. Class of 2000

Joncie read this letter to Deputy Don at Talbott's graduation on Thursday, January 13, 2000