2001 Annual Report - Town of South Windsor

www.southwindsor.org
T O W N O F S O U T H W I N D S O R
S O U T H W I N D S O R D R U G A N D A L C O H O L
A B U S E P R E V E N T I O N C O M M I S S I O N
An Overview
The South Windsor Drug and Alcohol Abuse
Prevention Commission was established in 1979 by
Town Ordinance to study the problems of drug and
alcohol use in the community and develop recommendations
to address these problems. The commission
is comprised of representatives from the
Police Dept., the Board of Education, Youth and
Family Services, a Public Health Association, Town
Council and five citizens appointed by the council.
The commission also includes two seniors at South
Windsor High School. The commission receives an
annual grant from the Department of Mental Health
and Addiction Services for the purpose of supporting
substantive prevention programs for South
Windsor.
The following projects represent the kinds of prevention
activities that the commission plans and
implements annually:
Family Awareness Day – October
A day of family fun and wellness events held at
South Windsor Community Center. Includes; One
Mile Fun Run for Children, 5K Hog Jog,
Face Painting, Shriner’s Clowns, Pony Rides,
Haunted House, K-9 demonstrations, Car Seat
Safety Checks, mobile amusement playground,
and hayrides. The Prevention Commission maintains
a booth with prevention information and promotes
the state wide “Healthy Smoke-Free Homes
Campaign”. Over 600 in attendance.
Get Hooked on Fishing Not Drugs – April
Annual prevention awareness campaign at town
fishing derby. Prevention materials distributed; kids
sign smoke and drug free life pledges which are
entered into raffles for prizes; Healthy Homes signups.
The focus is teaching awareness to young children
and their parents in conjunction with a fun,
family oriented activity. 510 in attendance.
Timothy Edwards Middle School Smoking
Prevention Week – May
This will be the fourth annual smoking prevention
week at the middle school; a week-long campaign
with slogan, “Smoking…I can live without it!” It will
feature a poster contest, student made videos, talks
by trained high school student roll models regarding
dangers of smoking and culminates with a presentation
by “Up in Smoke”, a dynamic juggling/comedy
team with a powerful prevention message. The
entire sixth grade participates. 420 students participated.
Operation Graduation – June
Op Grad Committee of parents, Youth and Family
Services Staff, and others, will organize and facilitate
the annual safe graduation party for graduating
seniors. The party is held at the high school. This
is a drug and alcohol free celebration for South
Windsor’s graduating class. 300 seniors
participated.
NEW! Straight Talk with Parents about Teen
Drug/Alcohol Use and Abuse
The commission designed this comprehensive program
for parents in an effort to provide current information
about youth substance abuse. The presentation
includes recent survey statistics, information
about ecstasy, a drug identification display kit, how
to handle parties at home and more. An informative
brochure entitled ‘Teen Parties and the Law’ has
been produced for this presentation. Presenters
include ERASE (Regional Action Council) personnel,
Youth and Family Services, School Resource
Officers, school guidance counselors and high
school students. The program is available to any
interested parent group. Presented to 32 parents; 8
high school students participated as presenters.
KERRY WEINZIMMER, CHAIRPERSON
2000-2001 ANNUAL REPORT 35