Nearly 450 kids from seven Dade elementary schools will skip school and be deputized as cops today.

Environmental cops, that is.

The students will be sworn in by the Metro-Dade police robot during a daylong conference at the Miami Airport Hilton. They will walk away with badges and be responsible for protecting the environment.

The conference, which also focuses on nutrition and self- esteem, is being presented by the Delphi Foundation, a nonprofit group dedicated to educational programs. It's also supported by the Arise Foundation, a group promoting environmental education, and Dade County Public Schools.

"We're going to be turning this earth over to these children," said Linda Gelinas of the Delphi Foundation. "The goal is to teach respect for the environment by teaching the children respect for others and respect for themselves."

Students will take an oath promising to educate themselves and others about the earth, and to learn more about preventing pollution, saving energy and recycling.

But the swearing-in is only part of what organizers have planned for fourth- through sixth-graders from Arcola Lake, Auburndale, Miami Park, Poinciana Park, Joe Hall, R.R. Moton, Shadowlawn, F.S. Tucker and Phillis Wheatley elementaries.

The program, which begins at 9 a.m. and lasts until 2 p.m., will start with a sing-along led by Harvey Kaufman, a fourth- grade teacher at Joe Hall Elementary.

Kaufman's students, who call themselves the "Healthy All-Stars," also will perform The Nutrition Rap, a three-minute tune written by Kaufman about the benefits of good eating.

"This is a really neat program," said Kaufman. "It gives kids a chance to get together and learn. It's a day well spent. These are the kind of values students will carry back with them when they return to class, and when they return home. It's an awareness we need today."

The students will hear from Ed and Susan Benson of the Arise Foundation, take an exercise break with an aerobics teacher and be entertained by a jazz band made up of former Dade students.

Besides nutrition and the environment, the kids also will learn about self-esteem, hearing motivational talks by Metro Commissioners Larry Hawkins and Harvey Ruvin and Dade Circuit Judge Phillip Davis, among others.

The day will conclude with the Healthy All-Stars handing out diplomas.

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