YAB STUDENTS TAKE A STAND IN PREVENTION

The Birmingham Bloomfield Community Coalition's (BBCC) Youth Action Board (YAB) served as youth "hosts" for a unique 2 day Prevention training program in September, bringing CADCA's National Youth Leadership Initiative (NYLI) training to their own backyard.  The teens spent the weekend of September 29 and 30^thwith NYLI trainers and teens from four other area Coalitions learning the strategic prevention framework, logic models, interventions, evaluation, and sustainability of a coalition.  In an effort to reach out to other teens and to learn about issues in other communities, the YAB extended the training to our ACHC (Alliance for Coalitions of Healthy Communities) partners with youth groups.  ACHC sponsored part of the training.

Over 35 teens from six different communities (Birmingham, Bloomfield, West Bloomfield, Madison Heights, Troy and Waterford) participated in the weekend training.  CADCA is the governing body of anti-drug community coalitions and the BBCC is a participating coalition that works to unite all sectors of the Birmingham Bloomfield community to realize a substance-abuse free community.  The teens and their Coalition advisors spent Saturday and Sunday from 9 am to 3 pm in hands-on workshops.  YAB member Jessica Stanley said she liked the hands-on approach.  “We learned the steps to take, and then experimented.” 

Follow this link for a video on the CADCA Youth experience.

http://www.bbcoalition.org/cadcayouth.wmv 

Each youth group worked out a Logic Model to address a problem in their specific area.  The BBCC teens chose as their problem statement: Marijuana use is on the rise.   Sara Dzierbicki said “I could find 10-15 kids to sell me marijuana at a moment’s notice.”   Michelle Bartoshuk added that “Parents and police are concentrating on alcohol.  And some parents act like marijuana is not that big a deal.”  The teens worked through all the reasons that marijuana use is on the rise in their area which led to discussions on how to combat it. 

The teens worked through team-building exercises, which made them realize that everyone in a group, or community, Natasia Partynski of Troy found the training “…really fun.  We learned the steps you have to take if you really want to help people to change.”  Seheri Swint-Daaja-Ra, a sophomore from Madison Heights found the training very productive.  “The metaphors they used really got us thinking,” she said.  Tony Biallis, a sophomore from West Bloomfield, said “I liked that they put us in groups with people we didn’t know.  At first it was uncomfortable, but now we all know a lot more people!”

The teens ate dinner as a group at Gameworks in Auburn Hills, then spent the evening playing video games. 

YAB co-president Dzierbicki said, “As much as I wanted to go to Tucson, this was almost better.  The training was fantastic, and now I know a bunch of other kids who are working on the same issue right here in my own area.”