TONTOGANY, Ohio — Brian Ruckstuhl, who is also a Wood County Sheriff's Deputy, has been the School Resource Officer for the last five years.
Deputy Ruckstuhl is in charge of teaching Otsego Local School students about Drug Abuse Resistance Education, better known as the D.A.R.E. program.
He was nominated for the "Ohio's D.A.R.E. Officer of the Year" award by school district personnel.
"That was a huge surprise to me. I come to work everyday, I love what I do. The administration here along with my teachers, from the superintendent all the way down to the preschoolers. I just love coming to work and being able to serve the community over here," said the Deputy and Resource Officer, Brian Ruckstuhl.
To Ruckstuhl, teaching this program and getting this award means he is doing his job well and that won't be changing anytime soon.
"Just to set that example and do as much as I can for the kids. I'm not going to slow down, I'm not going to stop," said Ruckstuhl.
He hopes his teachings are able to influence his students to make the right choices if they were ever in those situations.
Otsego school officials said Ruckstuhl is great at connecting with the kids and is passionate about teaching D.A.R.E.
Deputy Ruckstuhl said that although the program is for 5th and 7th graders.
He loves being able to go into the other grades and teach them about the D.A.R.E. program.