Home drug, alcohol kits to be handed out at awareness seminar
by Michael Nowotny
Mountain Home News
The Mountain home School District, in cooperation with state anti-drug programs, will be offering a special set of student and parent seminars Feb. 13 at the junior high.
The seminar that night will include providing to parents with free drug and alcohol testing kits.
Idaho Drug Free Youth has officially announced the launch of i2i in Mountain Home, a statewide community underage drinking prevention program.
The program will help address the issue on many levels and help change the community, organizers said.
IDFY will visit 30 communities within Idaho to assist in achieving the goal of educating parents and caring adults about their responsibilities toward stopping underage drinking.
The i2i program was launched by the work of "Brattz" (Military Brats Rejecting Alcohol Tobacco Tolerance Zero), a state-wide recognized youth coalition that advocates healthy young lifestyles.
The i2i program is joined in partnership by the Mountain Home School District and the Mountain Home Air Force Base youth programs.
"This is a program of how underage drinking affects us all," said Lissa Hall, of the Mountain Home Air Force Base Youth Program.
The local organizations that made the i2i project possible are the Idaho Millennium Fund, the Idaho Department of Juvenile Corrections, Kootenai-Benwah Medical Alliance and the Cancer and Community Charities fund.
The i2i consists of 3 parts: 1. Peers: Eye To Eye; 2. Youth and Adults: Eye To Eye, and 3. Parent Tool Kit.
The Peers: Eye to Eye program features a one day workshop at Mountain Home Jr. High to help inspire connections among their peers and going over things like peer pressure and self-esteem. The goal for that portion of the program is to reduce barriers to learning by promoting research based protective factors.
The program will be offered to 8th-grade students during regular school hours on Feb. 13.
The Youth and Adults: Eye To Eye features an evening presentation focused on key research. The goal for that portion of the program is to provide parents and adults with invaluable information on the adolescent brain and alcohol, and to initiate important discussions among participants.
The evening portion of the program will be held Feb. 13 from 6:30-8:30 p.m. at Mountain Home Junior High School. All parents and students are invited to attend.
The evening program also will include a parents panel, including three adults who work in the counseling field -- Fritz DeLange, former drug counselor at MHAFB, who now works as a counselor for kids, Bob Coleman, a counselor at Three Springs treatment facility, and Lynn Crenshaw, principal of the Virtual Academy, an alternative school out of Boise. The panel will include three youths who have all had different outlooks in regards to underage drinking.
Brattz will feature a sketch called "Turn Around," during the evening presentation. "We hope the presentation is entertaining and informative," said Hall.
The goal for part three is to equip parents and adults with resource information, drug testing supplies and discussion starters. A free tool kit will be given out to every family that participates in the evening workshop.
The tool kit will include two in-home drug tests and two alcohol breathalyzer kits. The kit also will include important conversation starters for families. If guests want to request additional kits, they will be on sale for $20 on the day of the presentation or available on the group's web site for $30.
If at least 100 people attend the parenting portion of the program, the entire program is free. If less than 100 attend, the cost for the program to the school district is $25.
For questions or more information call Lissa Hall at 828-2501.