23 Imbler 5th graders did their best and graduated from UCSO’s BEST Program
By Garrett Christensen on Friday, May 22nd, 2026 in More Top Stories Northeastern Oregon News
IMBLER – Over the decades, there have been many iterations of school-based programs meant to teach kids about the dangers of underaged substance use, addiction, peer pressure, and abuse. Following the discontinuation of DARE in many local schools, however, communities have often been left without such a program, until recently that is. On Tuesday, May 19, 2026, Imbler’s 5th grade class officially graduated from the BEST program, taking to heart key lessons on personal safety, awareness, and communication.
The BEST program, which stands for “Be aware. Evaluate. Stand up/Speak up for yourself and others. Talk to your support team” was initially launched in early 2023 at the La Grande school district. Created in part by then Union County Sheriff’s Deputy (now Sargent) Justin Hernandez, this newer program encompasses lessons far beyond simple drug, alcohol, and addiction awareness (though does still cover those subjects in depth), with lessons on responding to and resisting peer pressure, and the importance of creating a personal support network, among other important topics for kids.
In 2025, the Union County Sheriff’s Office school resource officer (SRO) program would expand, adding an SRO to the Imbler School District. That officer would be Deputy Capers, who is responsible for teaching the program to Imbler’s 5th graders. According to Capers, he voluntarily applied for the SRO position to get more experience working with kids after seven years as a patrol deputy, commenting:
“This was a new experience for me, working with kids. It was nice to see how interactive they were and how much they invested into the program. It’s nice to see their level of engagement and how they took away quite a bit from it.”
In practice, the program involved seven lessons, usually taught once a week though sometimes twice, including information from the Youth Drug Decision Making Education Program. The course also included information packets, daily subjects, and slide shows. Alongside general education on the dangers and signs of drug use and peer pressure, the BEST program also encouraged students to set short term and long-term goals for themselves and emphasize the importance of having a network of people to help them in emergencies or serious situations.
These weren’t lost on the kids either. During graduation, six 5th grade students read essays they had written for the course, all without help or peer editing, and touched on some fairly heavy subjects. As one student enthusiastically put it, “buckle those seatbelts, and get ready.”
The first student covered the importance of offering alternatives to drugs and alcohol if their peers try to indulge, while emphasizing the need to stand up for oneself in the face of peer pressure and not being afraid to ask, “why do you keep asking me?”. Another student hammered home the dangers of addiction and the ease of which someone can fall into bad habits, remarking bluntly, “don’t think you’re not like other people and won’t get addicted, because you will.”
Yet more students touched on the dangers of alcohol and driving under the influence, explaining that around 178 thousand alcohol related deaths occur in the United States annually, while 40% of drivers in car accidents in 2025 had THC in their system. All students spoke with passion and dedication on their chosen subject and of course gave glowing praise to Deputy Capers for his teaching.
Reflecting on the success of this first run of the BEST program at Imbler, 5th grade teacher Larry Bennett would comment:
“You sat and heard those essays. They didn’t peer edit and I didn’t help them with those, and for those kids to organize some pretty thoughtful papers was pretty cool. They talked about a lot of hard subjects, had a lot of slideshows, a lot of real pictures of drug paraphernalia and some real-life situations. Having him (Deputy Capers) be a resource officer really helped too I think, because of his law background. It was really authentic for sure.”
In total, 23 students (the entire Imbler 5th grade class) graduated from the Best Program this year. Going forward, there are plans to continue the program over the coming school years, so long as the district continues to opt in/pay for the SRO program. Even though the course is over for the year, staff and organizers are optimistic that the students have taken the lessons of the BEST program to heart and will carry them forward throughout their lives. As optimistically put by Deputy Capers:
“I think the BEST program is applicable for everything from school-aged kids to adults. It stands for ‘Be aware. Evaluate. Stand up/speak up for yourself & others. Talk to your support team.’ I find that everybody, no matter where they’re at in life, can use that approach to solve problems or approach problems that they face.”
