Why I Run: An Event to Honor, Educate, and Spread Awareness
What is substance abuse? Why is it so prevalent with teens in the high school environment? That’s what I and three other Western Albemarle High School students questioned, furthering our drive to apply to become leaders of the Wellness Ambassadors Club at WAHS. Wellness Ambassadors’ specific focus this year is substance abuse, but we focus on all aspects of health from mental to physical to emotional. Ms. Padron, the Gifted Resource Teacher, put up flyers in my freshman year asking students to apply to earn a spot on a team going to the Youth Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention Program Conference at Longwood University over the summer. I applied and happily learned I had been accepted. Alice Ferrall, Olivia Gallmeyer, and Francesca Gibson, the other three students accepted, are passionate about substance abuse prevention as well. We all attended the YADAPP conference over the summer where we formed a plan to battle substance abuse to take back to our school. From our presentation of the plan, we won a $250 grant to start up the Wellness Ambassadors club and the Why I Run event. We listened to speakers and learned valuable information from the conference to take back to Western. What was the plan? We started with identifying the main issue at Western. We decided it was awareness and education. Some students are not aware of the terrible effects of substance abuse. There are multitudes of reasons why students will abuse drugs: stress (school, home, and social), peer influence, boredom, or curiosity. One of our goals is to make sure every student is fully aware of the consequences and to try to prevent drug abuse within the school. Outside of school, substance abuse is much harder to control and that’s where awareness campaigns or fun alternative activities come into play. Parents, teachers, and administration also need to become aware of the easy accessibility of commercial drugs, like a vape for example, and how to prevent or educate students about substance abuse. Why I Run? We ran with the idea of ‘fun alternative activity’. An opportune time to hold the event is during the football season when it is known students may to drink or vape before games. The main goals of Why I Run: provide an activity for students to show you can have a fun time without abusing drugs, bring awareness to drug abuse, especially vaping, reduce stigma by starting a conversation, and honoring Mr. Betthauser, a beloved Western Choir teacher who tragically passed away due to a drunk driver. The saying, “Why I Run” is meant to individually represent something different to everyone. People fill in the blank, “Why I Run? I run for ____.”, with someone affected by substance they want to remember or running just to be healthy, spread awareness, start a conversation etc. Results? The Wellness Ambassadors Club at WAHS formed by Olivia, Alice, Frannie, and I accomplished what we were determined to achieve: starting the conversation and encouraging more education about substance abuse. Why I Run was a successful first time event, and will get better each and every year. I am so thankful to have had the opportunity to go to YADAPP to learn about prevention and to see our hard work and planning come to fruition through Why I Run. By Claire Aminuddin Western Albemarle High School Library Communications and Outreach Intern
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