Orcas and Lopez students travel to Chicago for drug prevention training

by Cienna Richardson

Orcas High School sophomore and Sounder employee

Over the summer, a group of Orcas and Lopez teenagers traveled to the Midwest to participate in a program run by the Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America.

The Chicago-based training institute offered interactive learning sessions July 14-18 aimed at community leaders and youth.

The Coalition for Orcas Youth sent Orcas students Kylie Quill, Josleyn Carpenter, Alexandria Sanders, Mia Topacio Flores and Lluvia Quintero-Carrion. Ulises Velazquez and Michelle Gil of Lopez participated through the Family Resource Center.

Accompanying the Orcas teens were COY Coordinator Alison Sanders, Funhouse Executive Director Ryan Carpenter, Spanish-speaking Funhouse Community Liaison Griselda Cruz, COY Project Manager Trillium Swanson and chaperone Sarah Hane.

“It was so rewarding to see them strengthen their skills as youth leaders,” Sanders said. “They should be very proud of the work they have done.

These teens say they have a strong desire to help people and create a better drug-free future – not just for themselves and their peers, but for our entire community. Through the training they met many people from all over America. They discovered that while it was different everywhere, they all struggled with some kind of drug problem in their communities. The training taught youth how to address root causes, discuss risk factors and identify “hot spots” and “safe places” on the island.

“It was interesting to see the different strategies other communities and schools used – like how our school runs events like the Compliment Wall or the Spoons Tournament – ​​and also to take some of those ideas back to incorporate them into our own community,” said Topacio Flores, a sophomore.

They also created a logic model or problem statement specifically tailored to the problems and goals of the orca community. This involved looking at problems on a smaller scale so they could break them down and focus on issues that contributed to the bigger picture. The young people were divided into regional groups to present them to the conference participants.

Orcas teens introduced themselves to Lopez and created a map with marked areas in the community where they targeted hotspots and safe locations.

“I was amazed to see how many communities across the country are coming together to do prevention work,” said Ryan Carpenter. “Hearing how each community is tackling the challenges of drugs and alcohol to create positive change shines a light on the hope we have for promoting health in our own community. The involvement of the high school students makes this hope shine even brighter.”