11/26/2024
On November 13th over 130 area youth, teachers, administrators, community partners and volunteers gathered for a youth empowerment event that has been sweeping the nation.
Over the course of the past 2 years, area students identified that historical methods of substance use prevention are no longer effective. After a small taste of the Vive-18, Beyond Drugs, Alcohol, and Va**ng curriculum in the Spring of 2023, consulting youth asked for more.
Rather than shaming students for using substances, the curriculum focuses more on positivity by helping students to set goals for the future and then identifying that our idea of personal success is not always easy and usually is full of obstacles that can be overcome.
During the full day youth event, participants were encouraged to achieve success by relying on a little help from others. Cofounder of the Vive-18 team, Jake White shared a personal experience about what “fitting in” meant to him in college and how he took matters into his own hands to develop the fun and substance free social atmosphere he desired.
Participating schools include Worth County, North Nodaway, Nodaway-Holt, Rock Port, Northeast Nodaway, Jefferson, Stanberry, West Nodaway, Maryville, and Tarkio. All school teams were given a “Shark Tank” like opportunity to present plans for an event to engage their peers and/or community members in a substance free social event. Many groups identified that inclusiveness is the value that they find most important to preventing substance use in today’s society. Participating groups were also given the opportunity to submit their plan for mini grants from $500-$1000/school to finance their event.
Jake White and the Vive-18 team were wowed by the engagement of the representatives of each of the ten schools and boasted about the welcoming and accommodating behaviors of our hosts at Jefferson C-123 school district.
Moving forward, members of the Northwest Communities Care (NWCC) coalition along with partners from Connect Worth County, The Health and Wellness Coalitions of Tarkio, Rockport, and Harrison County as well as local Certified Peer Specialists look forward to assisting participating student leaders in the quest to share the Vive-18, Beyond Drugs, Alcohol, and Va**ng with peers on their own school campus.
The partnering coalitions wants to thank our sponsors for all that they have done to make the dream of this impactful event a reality: Nodaway County Commission, Northwest Health Services, Harrison County Health Department, Mosaic Medical Center – Maryville, Nodaway County Health Department, DHSS Community Health and Wellness, Tarkio/Westboro Ministerial Alliance, Nodaway Valley Bank, United Fiber, Rock Port Ministerial Alliance, Atchison County Sheriff’s Department, Jefferson C-123 School, Maryville Hy-Vee, Casey’s General Store-East Maryville, and Domino’s Pizza-Maryville.
MU Extension in Nodaway CountyNodaway County Health DepartmentJefferson C-123 SchoolNortheast Nodaway Booster Club North Nodaway MsHs PageWest NodawayMaryville R2Platte Valley AthleticsJamie Young BakerTeri HarrStanberry High Friends
Please feel free to tag other participants.
