December Newsletter

What a busy couple of months it has been! October and November were packed with Teen Mental Health Trainings, LifeSkills classes, High School Prevention Day, Middle School Hope Squad sessions... I think we’re all ready for a few days off to celebrate the Christmas Holiday!

This newsletter is jam-packed full of many of the trainings and classes we completed recently. All the students were so engaged, that it made the instructions a joy to share!

As I’ve said before, we would not be able to do the prevention work we do, without the incredible support we get from the school district’s administrators, staff, and the Board of Education. They are truly committed to helping their (our) students, in every way! They really do care, and I am glad we are here to help fill the need in offering behavioral health services to our school and community.

At their last regular board meeting, the WRSD Board of Education approved our offering a Youth Risk Behavior Survey to students in grades 6-12. We have been doing this annual survey for 13 years, and it is instrumental in knowing what students are using, with regard to drugs, alcohol and tobacco, but also why they are using these substances, their perception of harm, and outside influences. This information helps drive us in the work we plan for the upcoming year. Letters will be sent to each parent in the next few weeks explaining the survey, which will be given to the students sometime in early January via Survey Monkey. All answers are anonymous and will be evaluated by Mountain Plains Evaluation. We will share the results here later, and welcome everyone’s input and advice!

Our Upcoming Events is pretty small this month. We hope everyone has a wonderful, and SAFE Christmas and New Year’s Eve!

Joyce Glynn,

MGM Coalition Prevention Specialist