The drug abuse prevention program GameChangers is coming to Greenbrier County high schools!
During a press conference on Wednesday, February 2, Governor Jim Justice and Greenbrier County Superintendent of Schools Jeff Bryant, and representatives from each school came together to announce the program is coming to both Greenbrier East and Greenbrier West.
“On behalf of Greenbrier County Schools, and specifically Greenbrier West High School and High School, we are honored to be invited to be a member of this program,” said Bryant. “[We will be] under the leadership of the governor of West Virginia, who I’ve known loves kids beyond belief, as he says. He’s a champion of children and he is determined to eradicate this problem that is eating our kids alive. Ladies and gentlemen, all of these administrators here have seen it firsthand, the damage drugs can do to not only our kids but their families, their community. With the governor leading the way and Joe being the backbone of this, we’re going to make a difference.”
According to a press release from the governor’s office, the “GameChanger works directly with schools to implement, monitor, and sustain the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation’s student peer leadership programs, which have been found by research to help children make healthy choices about alcohol, opioids, and all other drugs. As a youth-led prevention, positive development, and community enhancement initiative, GameChanger programming is designed to educate, support, and empower young West Virginians to live healthy, drug-free lifestyles, while preparing to be our leaders of tomorrow.”
“I am so happy to announce that GameChanger is coming to these two excellent schools,” said Justice. “I’ve said many times that our children are the greatest treasure we have in West Virginia. They are our future. Through this program, we are going to make sure that all of our students in these schools are on the right pathway toward maximizing their potential. … I am determined to break the cycle of addiction that has plagued our communities for far too long. We are already making great strides with the GameChanger initiative. But we won’t stop working until every single school in West Virginia has the tools they need to change the game for all of our students across the state.”
Joining Justice at New River Community and Technical College’s campus, the Greebrier County Board of Education’s regular meeting space, was West Virginia State Board of Education Member Tom Campbell, Bryant, Greenbrier East Principal Ben Rouston, Greenbrier West Principal Amy Robertson, and GameChanger Executive Director Joe Boczek.
Desirae Vasquez, Director of Professional Education and Continuum Solutions Programming for the Hazelden-Betty Ford Foundation, joined the announcement virtually from her offices in Massachusetts, further explaining the differences between past campaigns to prevent substance abuse disorder and this one.
“A GameChanger approach to prevention programming is different from “just say no” campaigns and scare tactics because it harnesses real life skills, known to be effective in helping children and teens choose not to use substances. … These skills are practical, they’re accessible, they’re non-threatening, they’re fun,” said Vasquez. “With practice, they’re also easy for students to use for weeks, months and years after exposure to GameChanger’s programming.”
“I think that what you had with ‘Just Say No,’ [has the] some absolutely fabulous programs conceptually,” Boczek explained. “What you have [with] the people at Hazelden-Betty Ford Foundation [is] research and looking at new and innovative ways of prevention. They worked with Harvard, they worked with Boston College, they worked with Emory, they work with the University of Washington, and Johns Hopkins, to kind of test these types of theories. … It’s more than just saying no. That was a great concept to begin the 80s with, but now we’re in 2022, the problems [has] exacerbated, and it’s … knowing what it’s like to live a healthy lifestyle, the way to diet, nutrition, … and taking care of your body. You start teaching this in the kindergarten, first grade, [then it] runs in with the GameChanger program that’s free faceted, primary, middle and high school. The hopes are that you’re going to get results over the next 10, 15 years.”
The foundation also seeks to provide a scientific framework to prevention campaigns, but also integrate what the local community knows about itself.
“Our prevention approach is an empowering one that honors the dignity of and respects young people by partnering with them as they learn the information and skills that they need to make their own healthy choices of alcohol, opioids and all other substance use and nonuse,” Boczek said. “… It is in this spirit that all of our Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation prevention specialists, who will be walking alongside teachers, coaches, and students in the state, are not only highly trained prevention science professionals, but also people who happen to be in healthy, long-term recovery from substance use disorders themselves. We are truly with the state of West Virginia, and your people as professionals who have come through addiction and who are committed to prevention from a deep place within our mission.”
The program will next look for a coordinator for the high schools. This coordinator, Boczek noted “is deserving of being treated just like … a football coach, a band director, National Honor Society member, so there’ll be paid a stipend of $5,000 a year.”
The program looks to formally begin in the next school year.
“In July, the team from Hazel and Betty Ford will come to West Virginia and start meeting with the GameChanger coaches and going over the philosophies and going over the teachings of the program and so on and so forth,” Boczek said. “We hope to start implementation in September.”
In the meantime, Communities in Schools is expected to continue.
“Greenbrier County is the original home of Communities in Schools in West Virginia,” Bryant said. “It’s been a strong partner for us and continues to be a strong partner for us. … Under Kathy Justice’s leadership, it only got stronger. We’re serving kids at all 13 of our schools. Once again, if we bring [GameChanges] to partner with Communities in Schools, … we are not just going to talk the talk, we’re going to walk the talk.”
Greenbrier County Schools and GameChanger representatives joined Justice to make the announcement. |
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