This is an e-mail that was sent to me and many others by Sandy Poe, chair of the Pontotoc County Drug Free Coalition.
Dear PCDFC members and friends,
What an exciting and inspirational evening in Pontotoc County……the Reality Party became a reality! Please accept this letter as a thank you to all who made it happen and as a tribute to the students and our panel members who so willingly participated and shared their talents.
The Ada High students who participated in the Reality Party did a tremendous job and also provided a valuable service to the community. Their maturity, enthusiasm, talent, and passion for the event contributed greatly to its success. Our panel members offered the gift of their presence to validate the credibility of the content of the Reality Party and also shared their expertise in an authentic and sincere manner.
Following the 5 performances (5 tours of groups who viewed the Reality Party), the panel members and the students met to review the evening. Our panel members included: Officer John Roberts of ECU, Cheryl Yott of Citizens Bank (parent), Gwynn Busby of Area Prevention Resource Center, Regina Folger, the abstinence instructor from the Chickasaw Nation, Sheriff John Christian, Tammy Hughes (Crime Analyst) and Officer Harper of the Lighthorse Police, Detective Kathi Johnston of Ada PD, Vicki Orsburn of Ada Area Chemical Dependency, and Calvin Prince of Families First. The students included: Samantha Cannon, Julia Smola, Julie Krause, Bayli Hobson, Brady Bowers, Steffani Silva, Cole Townsend, Colin Earle, Stephen Miller, Sethariah Windsor, Niklas Muller, Madysson Morris, and James Tillison.
In the dialogue that took place between the panel and the students, there was a powerful exchange of ideas of how to build awareness in the community of the serious underage drinking and drug problem in Pontotoc County. The panel members assured the students that the scenes that they portrayed were “reality” and that they deal with very similar scenarios in real life on a regular basis. Each panel member thanked the students for taking a stand and being willing to be leaders among their peers; the students were also recognized as offering a service to the community that was most effective being performed by them.
The students each had the opportunity to share how they felt about the experience and what they learned from the process. All of the responses were positive and also addressed what they had learned. For example, several of the students shared how the party was so much fun in the first scene and how quickly the party changed to serious drama when overindulgence occurred, when drugs were mixed with alcohol, when students passed out, when fights broke out and when the conditions for date rape were evident. In their own words, they articulated how dangerous the underage drinking and drug culture was for all citizens and that parents and teens had to work together to change the mindset and attitudes of the community.
Please join me in thanking the Ada High students and the panel members for their service and in celebrating the success of the Reality Party in our community. This event required the collaboration of many partners in the community. This thank you also gives me the opportunity to give a major tribute to Sara Morgan (Area Prevention Resource Center) who has been the leader of this project from its onset and who also served as the Tour Guide for the Reality Party. Her leadership and deep commitment for this project was an inspiration to all of us. Also, the Chickasaw Nation’s Meth Suicide Prevention Initiative (MSPI) grant provided incentives for our students. Finally, all of the volunteers, students and panel members were extremely grateful to Citizens Bank, Vision Bank and the Girl Scouts for providing food, drinks and snacks for the event.
By working together and sharing time, energy and talent, a goal of awareness was achieved. This is one giant step in creating awareness throughout the whole community.
Sincerely,
Sandy Poe
President, PCDFC
No comments:
Post a Comment