Prevention – Page 5

MYAA Youth Ambassador Profiles: Tali, Raine, and Madeline

MYAA’s Youth Ambassadors are the main catalyst’s for the prevention in underage drinking MYAA continually strives to achieve. MYAA Ambassadors are hardworking, motivated students, who dedicate their time and their commitment to reaching out to their peers, their friends and others about the dangers of underage drinking and the benefits of abstaining. Youth Ambassadors are role models to younger students and enjoy the confidence of believing in the fun and the empowerment of healthy choices and how important it is to support yourself.

If you know of a young person who would be great for the Youth Ambassador Program, or you are a young person who wants to get involved, the applications are open now, and close on May 4, 2015. Check out the Youth Ambassador website (http://www.actmissouri.org/youth-ambassadors/) for more information and to access the application when it becomes available.

Here are three of MYAA’s Youth Ambassadors and a little information about them.

Krista S., Kara, Raine, Krista O., and Tali

Tali Azar

Parkway Central High School, Chesterfield

Reason why I am a youth ambassador: To be able to make a difference and better my community.
Favorite subject in school: Ceramics because it relaxes me and allows me to be creative
Favorite thing to do outside of school: I like to hang out with friends and family and get involved with my community.
What we hope to do after high school: Go to college after high school and major in a career that involves helping others.

Raine Ryerson

Morgan County R-II High School, Versailles

Reason why I am a youth ambassador: I love to serve others and being an ambassador helps me to give back to my community while also allowing me to be a positive role model for young adults.
Favorite subject in school: Psychology. I love learning about how people’s minds function and how their thoughts can predict their actions.
Favorite thing to do outside of school: I love to run long distance. I train all Winter for track season in the Spring and I also run 5k races competitively.
What we hope to do after high school: I hope to either attend the United States Military Academy at West Point and major in Psychology, or attend the University of Missouri-St. Louis through an Army ROTC scholarship and major in Criminology.

Madeline Partridge

Eldon High School, Eldon

Reason why I am a youth ambassador: To get the word out to my community that underage drinking and drug use needs to stop. I believe that the best way to stop underage drinking and underage drug use is if the information comes from the peers of the teenagers who are making these choices.
Favorite subject in school: Any and all kinds of science. I find science so intriguing because every day we are finding new ways to save lives or a new species that we have never known before. Science is a way to figure out the ever-changing world around us and to better understand what we already know.
Favorite thing to do outside of school: I love to play basketball! I spend most of my weekends and every day after school practicing with my team to get better.
What we hope to do after high school: I am planning to go to college. Right now I am looking to get a degree in health sciences, but not 100% sure what I want to do yet.

MYAA Project Director Chelsea, Kara, Madeline, Raine, and Krista S.

Each quarter we will be highlighting some of our Missouri Youth Adult Alliance Youth Ambassadors. To learn more about the Youth Ambassador Program or MYAA, visit our website.

March’s #SubstanceFreeSaturday

With all the excitement from the 2015 #SpeakHard Youth Conference, we almost forgot about this month’s #SubstanceFreeSaturday! Luckily, the dates are all printed on our #RedRibbonWeek calendar!

This month is a great time to get friends together and watch some March Madness basketball! Is your team still in the tournament?

Source

Even if you don’t like basketball, you can still get a group of friends together and do something fun and #SubstanceFree! Make some yummy snacks, watch a movie, or play a game. Saturdays are a great time to hang out with your friends without the stress of homework!

St. Patrick’s Day Safety

Did you know that over St. Patrick’s Day weekends from 2009 to 2013, there were a total of 276 lives lost in drunk-driving crashes? There are so many other #SubstanceFree fun things to do this year for St. Patrick’s Day.

In 2014, college students in Michigan organized #SubstanceFree events to combat binge drinking. You can do the same thing in your community! Organize a school dance or lock-in, have a Lucky Charms cereal eating contest, a parade with your friends and pets, or watch movies. The possibilities are endless!

If you see a drunk driver on the road, call local law enforcement. You could save a life. A third of all crash fatalities in the United States involve drunk drivers. If you know someone who is about to drive drunk or ride with someone who is impaired, help them make other arrangements to get to where they are going safely. If a friend is drunk and wants to drive, take the keys away. Don’t worry about offending someone—they’ll thank you later.

We hope you have a safe and #SubstanceFree St. Patrick’s Day!

For more information on safety during St. Patrick’s Day, visit the Traffic Safety Marketing website.

Meet M&P Presentations

We are so excited for all of you to meet the 2015 Keynote Speakers of #SpeakHard! M&P Presentations is a positive public speaking team of two gentlemen that enjoy spreading positive energy and acting as proof that a great life is very achievable. But enough from us…check out the video they made just for you!

To learn more about Speak Hard and register for the event, visit our website.

Connect with M&P on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram before Speak Hard.
Connect with ACT Missouri on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram too!

Coallition Spotlight: Youth Community Coalition

The Youth Community Coalition (YC²) is a network of over 70 organizations and individuals whose goal is to help youth develop into productive and self-sufficient citizens by working together to decrease substance abuse and promote healthy behaviors among the youth in Boone County. YC² promotes community collaboration around issues concerning healthy choices, positive activities, education, employment, service, and the prevention of substance abuse. Ultimately our coalition works to build the capacity of each of its members, to do their amazing work for youth in our community even better.

In 2014, the coalition helped to achieve some important outcomes for our community to protect youth from proposed policies that could have risked higher incidents of substance use by youth in our area. In particular, YC²organized with other substance abuse prevention agencies to educate the public and our elected officials on proposed ordinances to decriminalize the cultivation of marijuana and to raise the legal age of purchase for tobacco and e-cigarettes. Our coordinated efforts were significant in defeating the proposed marijuana ordinances and in enacting laws to raise the legal age to purchase tobacco and e-cigarettes in Columbia.

In addition to our activism with respect to local laws, the coalition also organized or participated in numerous other initiatives to prevent substance use and abuse in our communities. Specifically, YC²helped organized the county Rx drug take back for our county, continued support of compliance checks for area restaurants and bars, sponsored activities to educate parents about the risks of social hosting, participated in health fairs at the local high schools, and worked with MU Wellness Resource Center to organize two Alcohol Summits attended by local businesses, higher education, agencies and individuals alike which assessed the most pertinent issues our community faces regarding alcohol use by youth and young adults.

Another way YC² seeks to positively impact the youth community is with the afterschool and youth leadership programs the coalition sponsors with partner organizations. As a 21^st Century Community Learning Center grant recipient, YC²works with four afterschool sites to provide quality after school programs that are helping to improve academic success for nearly 300 youth in Columbia. The Teen Outreach Program (TOP) is a leadership training program that works with at-risk high school teens providing education, leadership and community service training. Similarly, Helping Our Peers Everywhere (HOPE) is a peer leadership program working with high school teens on prevention of substance abuse, bullying and other teen issues with the intention of presenting the information learned to elementary, middle, and other high school students. Helping youth achieve greater success in school and in the community is an important pillar of the YC² mission to ensure all our children develop into productive and self-sufficient citizens.

Speak Hard 2015 Update

Good morning!

We are so excited that it is almost time for Speak Hard 2015! Almost a year of planning goes into this event, so it is always great for us to see how much fun the youth have, and how much they learn throughout the day. In order to secure a location and a keynote speaker for Speak Hard, we start planning months in advance. Unfortunately, this means that we select the date for Speak Hard before the legislative calendar has been set. For the past eleven years, Speak Hard has been during the same week and not conflicted with the legislature’s Spring Break. This year, we were not that lucky and the legislature’s Spring Break has been moved and will take place during Speak Hard. While I know that some groups look forward to legislative visits as a bonus to Speak Hard, there is still so much to look forward to at this year’s conference!

This year’s keynote, M&P Presentations, is an awesome team that brings high energy and will get the prevention inspiration started early in the day. We’ve also changed the schedule so that every participant will see the keynote and an additional four sessions. That is two additional sessions from last year! There is a ton of fun and education planned for the 11^th Annual Speak Hard Youth Conference. Youth will have the opportunity to gain knowledge that they can utilize when advocating in their local communities.

While most representatives will not be in Jefferson City on the date of Speak Hard, there are numerous ways to reach out to them. We encourage you to call, email, or write a letter to your representative. We can still deliver the message that prevention is important and advocate for our communities even if our representatives are not in Jefferson City.

Thank you for your flexibility! We hope to see you all at the 11^th Annual Speak Hard Youth Conference so that we can learn together and teach youth the importance of Substance Abuse Prevention!

For more information, and to register, visit the Speak Hard page.

Sincerely,

Chelsea Billeck
MYAA Project Director

February’s #SubstanceFreeSaturday

February 21st is #SubstanceFreeSaturday! This Saturday would be a great time to invite some friends over, or hang out with your family and have a movie marathon! You can also make some yummy snacks to go along with your movies. Need some ideas?

Harry Potter: Here are a ton of fun recipes to try, from Butterbeer to Cauldron Cakes!
Lord of the Rings: Lembas Bread is the way to go.
Marvel Cinematic Universe: Captain America’s Breakfast S.H.I.E.L.D. is a fun vegetarian option!
Star Wars: Who doesn’t love a Watermelon Death Star?
Twilight: Edward’s Cornflake Chicken: yum or done?

Of course you could also just serve up some popcorn and soda, but where’s the fun in that! Snap a #SubstanceFreeSelfie, and tag us on Facebook or Twitter so we can see all the fun you’re having!

MYAA Youth Ambassador Profiles: Krysta, Kara, and Krista

When working to support the health and well-being of young people, working with young people is essential to that process. That is why the Youth Ambassador Program is such an important piece of MYAA.

The MYAA Youth Ambassadors are a talented group of students from across Missouri who serve as the statewide youth voice for substance abuse prevention. They go through training with some of the top professionals in the field, design their own presentations to give in their communities, meet with legislators, and help plan the Speak Hard Youth Conference.

Youth ambassadors play an integral role in the overall development and operation of our statewide underage drinking prevention initiative. MYAA’s adult members work together with the Youth Ambassadors in planning and implementing prevention practices and programs, as well as yearly events including the annual statewide youth conference, Speak Hard and annual Prevention Day at the Capitol.

Members of MYAA’s Youth Ambassador Program are hardworking and well versed individuals who have demonstrated their commitment by reaching out to peers, friends, and younger students. Youth Ambassadors serve as role models for other students and agree to abstain from using drugs and alcohol.

If you know of a young person who would be great for the Youth Ambassador Program, or you are a young person who wants to get involved, the applications will open on March 25, 2015 and close on May 4, 2015. Check out the Youth Ambassador website (http://www.actmissouri.org/youth-ambassadors/) for more information and for access to the application when it becomes available.

Krysta Ott
Smith-Cotton Junior High, Sedalia

Reason why I am a youth ambassador: To share my opinion, and let others know it’s okay to make the right decision.
Favorite subject in school: English, I love reading and gaining new knowledge. Then, I love to write about everything I read about!
Favorite thing to do outside of school: Play softball and perform.
What we hope to do after high school: As of right now, go to college for Theater Education.

Kara Bernskoetter
Calvary Lutheran High School, Jefferson City

Reason why I am a youth ambassador: help the youth make positive choices and reach out to others.
Favorite Subject in school: Math because I like solving problems and it has great life applications.
Favorite thing to do outside of high school: play volleyball, shop, and be with my friends.
What I want to do after high school: attend Lincoln University.

Krista Stanford
Calvary Lutheran High School, Jefferson City

Reason why I am a youth ambassador: help other students be drug and alcohol free; connect with other students who want to do the same.
Favorite Subject in School: history, because i love learning new things and it’s intriguing.
Favorite thing to do outside of school: i enjoy being with my friends.
What I want to do after high school: go to Concordia University in Seward, Nebraska and pursue a degree in Elementary Education with an emphasis in Special Education.

Kara Bernskoetter, Krysta Ott, Becky Bade, Krista Stanford, and Tali Azar at a Youth Ambassador training at ACT Missouri.

Each quarter we will be highlighting some of our Missouri Youth Adult Alliance Youth Ambassadors. To learn more about the Youth Ambassador Program or MYAA, visit our website.

National Drug Facts Week Celebrated In Missouri

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NATIONAL DRUG FACTS WEEK CELEBRATED IN MISSOURI

ACT Missouri partners with “National Drug Facts Week” (NDFW) in 2015. The week-long health observance, organized by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), part of the National Institutes of Health, takes place Monday, January 26^th through Sunday, February 1^st. NDFW celebrates the inquisitive minds of teens by giving them a space (virtual or physical) to ask questions about drugs and to get scientific answers from experts. As part of the NDFW celebration, ACT Missouri is hosting its 4^th Annual Prevention Day at the Capitol on January 28^th, as well as a free webinar on January 27^th about “The Science of Addiction” facilitated by Jennifer A. Lowery, M.D.

About a third of high school seniors across the country report using an illicit drug sometime in the past year, and more than ten percent report non-medical use of a narcotic painkiller. While drugs can put a teenager’s health and life in jeopardy, many teens are not aware of the risks. Even for those teens who do not abuse drugs, many have friends or family who do, and they are often looking for ways to help them.

After marijuana, RX drugs are now the most common drugs of abuse by Missouri youth. Many teens believe they are safe because they are prescribed by doctors, and 70% of people 12 and older reported getting the drugs from a friend of relative. Missouri has the seventh highest drug overdose mortality rate in the United States.

“We want teens to have the opportunity to learn what science has taught us about drug abuse and addiction,” said Chuck Daugherty, Executive Director of ACT Missouri. “There are so many myths about drugs cluttering our popular culture. National Drug Facts Week is for teens to get honest answers about drugs so they can make good, informed decisions for themselves and share accurate information with friends.”

Prevention Day gives youth and communities the opportunity to speak with their legislator on various prevention topics. The Southeast Regional Support Center will also be participating in NDFW by hosting a trivia night in Cape Girardeau. Northland Coalition will be executing a social media campaign using NIDA and NDFW facts. Schools and educators can participate in Live Chat Day on January 30^th.

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For 23 years, ACT Missouri has been serving as the statewide prevention catalyst, empowering individuals and fostering partnership to promote safe, healthy, and drug-free communities. We believe in healthy individuals, healthy communities, and a healthy Missouri. Resources are available to communities by contacting us at info@actmissouri.org.

Contact Information:

Natalie Newville
Public Information Officer
ACT Missouri
428 E. Capitol Avenue
Jefferson City, MO 65101
(573) 635-6669
nnewville@actmissouri.org

#SubstanceFreeSaturday

Each month the Missouri Youth Adult Alliance (MYAA) designates one Saturday a month as #SubstanceFreeSaturday. This is a great opportunity for coalitions to plan events with their members, and youth to invite their friends to hang out and do an activity. It’s a way to highlight all the fun things youth can do that don’t involve substance abuse.

January 17th is the first #SubstanceFreeSaturday of 2015! It’s a great day to go to the movies with friends, host a video game marathon at your house, or enjoy the “warmer” weather outside! We love to see what you are doing to celebrate, so be sure to post your pictures on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram with #SubstanceFreeSaturday!

If you want to plan your activities ahead of time, be sure to check out the 2015 Red Ribbon Week calendar!

Taking ACTion to Build a Healthy Missouri