Empowering messages like Dream Big, Find your Destiny, Be the Party and Stand Up, Stand Out, Choose Health gave 6 local San Juan Island teens a lot to think about and new skills to act upon these messages they heard in workshops, presentations and service projects in Yakima where the 3 day Summit is held annually.
The San Juan Island Prevention Coalition sponsored these youth from Spring Street Int’l School and Friday Harbor High School. “These youth already work hard to make a difference in their schools through various clubs like ROCK SOLID and H.O.T.S. (Helping Out Teens Society) however, we have an opportunity to collaborate and bring them together to make a greater impact for our community” says Team Advisor, Debbi Fincher. In addition, we invited Jason Davis of Island Rec and Meagan Gable the new Prevention Intervention Specialist at FHMS/FHHS to help chaperone the group and build a stronger support system for these teens.
We’ve heard loud and clear that many youth want to get involved but they just need some support and guidance from the adults in their community. As Teddy McCullough said, “We want to do the work, we just need your help to show us what resources are available and support us along the way”. As you may know, Teddy is from Lopez Island Prevention Coalition and a Junior at American University. He is an intern at the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) and was a presenter and Youth Co-Emcee this year at the Summit. One of our team’s favorite presentations was Teddy’s workshop when he spoke to the power of dreaming big and finding ways to navigate around obstacles. Never give up!
The group is pictured here: Lucas Gao, Zach Fincher, Per Black, Teddy McCullough, Sammy Finch, Madrona Jameson and Rachel May. Watch for some amazing projects and ideas to come from this team. If they ask for your help and support, we hope you can offer it. Thank you. The San Juan Island Prevention Coalition
Photo by Debbi Fincher