VALPARAISO | Sharon Duerring, the first-grade teacher arrested Oct. 4 on a charge of showing up to her classroom drunk with beers in her purse, was ordered Friday to begin taking the anti-alcohol drug Antabuse.

Duerring is also required to attend four Alcoholic Anonymous meetings a week in an effort to keep her sober while her two public intoxication criminal cases move forward.

"I want you to get help so you can help yourself," said attorney Mitch Peters, who was sitting in Friday for Porter Superior Judge David Chidester. "Your situation isn't hopeless."

Police said Duerring, 49, was intoxicated in her classroom at Cooks Corners Elementary School in Valparaiso and was found with two cans of beer in her purse. Her blood-alcohol concentration was 0.20, which is more than twice the legal limit of 0.08, police said.

She was already facing public intoxication charges from March 25, when police said she was found at the Wal-Mart automotive center in Portage with a blood-alcohol concentration of 0.275, which is more than three times the legal limit, according to court records.

While Duerring could be terminated as a result of the arrests, she faces the more serious threat of losing her teaching license.

Duerring is required to show up three times a week to the county health department to receive the Antabuse. She also will be supervised by the county probation department, which will make sure she complies with the AA meeting requirement.

"I believe you can overcome this," Peters told Duerring.

Duerring is scheduled to appear again in Chidester's court at 1:30 p.m. Thursday.