HCC Youth Programs
Smokeless Schooldays
Smokeless SchoolDays is a program for Greater Franklin County youth in grades 6-12 who want to quit tobacco or want to help someone quit tobacco. Smokeless SchoolDays can also provide a positive educational alternative for kids under age 18 who are suspended from school or break the tobacco possession law. Youth will not have to pay a fine through the criminal justice system if they attend the program. For more information please contact Bridgette Gilbert at 778-3561.
10th Annual Youth Summit: Creating a Substance Abuse Media Campaign, Celebrating A Decade of Youth Empowerment
Healthy Community Coalition sponsored the 10th Annual Youth Summit at Franklin Memorial Hospital on October 30, 2010. Students from Jay, Livermore Falls, Mt. Blue, Rangley, and MSAD 58 spent the day learning about substance abuse then created their own video, radio and newspaper public service announcements (psa’s).
Highlights from the Youth Summit included:
- Former Mt. Blue student, Desi Van Til, and her husband, Sean Mewshaw, provided a segment on how to create effective videos and PSA’s. Both are film producers who have worked on several Hollywood sets.
- Gerry Baril, Supervisory Special Agent with the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency presented current data on substance abuse issues in our area.
- Students participated in small group presentations made by Larry White, Jay Chief of Police who had 26 years of law enforcement experience to share.
- Noreen Comeau, Family Nurse Practitioner, who works at Wilson Stream Family Practice in Farmington, shared her expertise on assisting people who are addicted to substances.
- Rebecca Miller, Northern New England Poison Center shared her experience with substance abuse based on 22 years of nursing work. Ms. Miller is a certified specialist in poison information (CSPI) and manages calls in the call center once a week. Additionally, she spends time teaching about poison issues such as carbon monoxide, general poison prevention, substance abuse and other topics.
The innovative psa's created by the students are used in a community-wide Substance Abuse Media Campaign.
For more youth resources, go to www.thecommunityconnector.org.
