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Sheree Coffman , Student Assistance Counselor
Northmont City Schools
Office-Room 135, Northmont HS
(937) 832-6065
Fax: (937) 832-6037
E-mail: scoffman@northmontschools.com
Our comprehensive plan of prevention for the Northmont City School District has these goals:
1. Increase abstinence rates for alcohol, tobacco and other drug use among our students.
2. Decrease high-risk use with our students.
3. Increase the age of initial experimentation with our students.
4. Decrease quantity and frequency of mood-altering chemicals with our students.
5. Decrease the violence at Northmont City Schools.
6. Students are taught and encouraged to make healthful decisions throughtout their lives.
7. Encourage parents to play a key role in the prevention process.
8. Intervene with students showing signs of alcohol, tobacco, or other drug use and abuse.
To evaluate the progress of our prevention programs, we utilize two evaluation tools:
1. DADS Survey (Dayton Area Drug Survey) - modeled after the University of Michigan survey
-administered in alternative years
-data compiled by Wright State University
-drug trends are identified
-shows how our students compare locally and nationally
-helps document our prevention progress.
2. Student Athlete Survey
-administered in alternative years.
-students in grades 7-12 are given this confidential survey.
Research-based prevention programs utilized:
1.TWYSAA (Talking With Your Students About Alcohol) : Elem., MS. & HS
2. QUEST Program: 9-12
3. Transformative Mediation: 7-12
4. Peace Works Mediation Program: K-6
5. *Project Alert: sixth grade (booster in seventh)
6. Parent to Parent programs are offered to adults in the Northmont community.
* In process of piloting this program.
Responsibilities:
· Safe and Drug Free Schools Grant Coordinator
-2005-06 grant totals $14,670.
Members of the Northmont community who have ideas / suggestions about how these dollars might be utilized should contact Mike Seaman (832-6065)
· Member of Northmont District Safety Committee
-District group meets under the direction of Mr. Bob Gentis, Assistant Superintendent, Student Services
-Goal is to make Northmont schools as safe as possible.
-Community input is always welcomed.
· Student Assistance Referrals
-Referrals initiated from teachers, administrators, peers, parents, as well as self-referrals.
-Data is collected, preliminary assessments are completed, and parents are contacted with appropriate referral(s) made.
-Members of the Student Assistance Team are utilized (mental health team/administrators) in the process of making a recommendation to parents.
· District Referral List
-Appropriate referrals (agencies/therapists/clinics) are available for parents.
-This includes drug-testing information. Home kits are not very effective tools!
· Assists in the high school peer facilitation program.
-Teams with Ms. Wanda Adams (social studies department chair) and Mrs. Becky Gruber (counselor).
-Students are trained in a large variety of topics so they can meet the needs of students across the district.
· Helps coordinate the training of peer mediators (HS and MS).
· Member of Northmont Attacks Substance Abuse (NASA).
-Community task force led by Mrs. Linda Blum (school board president).
· Assists with Parent-to-Parent program.
-Video based program; four sessions long.
-Sessions held at Northmont Board of Education offices, 4001 Old Salem Road.
-Cost is $10 ($15/couple).
-Programs held as requested (except for December and July).
-Motto: “We are all part of the solution.”
-The best time to take the program: Now! Why? Parents are able to put the techniques to work to get the full value of the program. Prevention works!
-All children are exposed to the pressures that lead to unhealthy decisions. Why not invest the time to increase the chances that your child will make healthy choices? Your children have to be as important as your other “priorities.”
-Parents who have taken the training have been favorably impressed with PTP.
· Maintains a large multi-media library of materials available to students, staff, as well as the Northmont community.
· Coordinates Northmont’s “reduction on suspension” program for students violating the tobacco use policy.
-A ten-day suspension can be reduced to three days if the student enrolls and completes an approved tobacco cessation program.
· Coordinates Northmont’s “alternative to expulsion” program for students violating the substance use/possession policy.
-Students/parents electing to enroll in the program will have their expulsion rescinded (as long as they follow through with any recommendations).
· Coordinates staff trainings in the areas of substance use, prevention/ intervention, co-dependency, and violence/safety issues.
· Advisor of Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD.)
-Works with student officers to promote healthy decision making. Assemblies planned prior to winter break, spring break &/or prom/ graduation season.
-Current officers: President: Beth Barrow, Vice-President: Sejal Doshi, Secretary: Jess Wittman, and Treasurer: Miranda Bailey. Class representatives include: 9th: Elizabeth Sweeney, 10th:Chelsea Burns, 11th: Brian White, and 12th: Heather Lowery.
· Member of district’s Mental Health Team, with Mr. Bob Gentis (central office).
· Coordinates programs for athletes violating the district’s extra-curricular code of conduct.
-This includes violations and self-referrals during and out of season. A four-week suspension can be reduced to two weeks if the student chooses to follow the recommendation(s) of the student assistance counselor.
· Works with the Clayton Police Department to coordinate “canine searches” at the high school and middle school.
-These searches are random and promote a drug-free expectation on Northmont school grounds. Students who are caught possessing drugs are suspended and turned over to the Clayton Police Department.
· School Resource Officer (SRO)
-Clayton Police Officer Mark Gau will be working Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays on a part-time basis.
· Helps schedule assemblies and other programs for students and parents.
-The most successful parenting program to date included Mr. Milton Creagh in February of 1999. Tapes from Mr. Creagh are available from the Student Assistance Counselor as well as the Englewood Library.
· “Violence-Free Kids”
-This program was taken from an award winning violence prevention program in Greene County and is now being implemented in HS health classes. Daybreak has worked with Northmont in obtaining the grant to bring this program to Northmont.
· “Power Club”
-Ms. Tena Mitchell, who works at Daybreak, facilitates this eight-week support group. The purpose of the group is to teach peaceful alternatives to conflict as well as to learn how to make healthy choices. Groups were started in the fall of the 2001-02 school year. Students can also see Mrs. Mitchell individually for counseling.
· Co-facilitation of student support groups.
-Healthy Family Living Group: similar to an Alateen group, for students living with an addict/alcoholic.
-Grief group: students dealing with the loss of a loved one.
-Recovery group: students recovering from chemical dependency
-Insight group: students who are in need of early substance use counseling. This group is intended to be educational and will result in an outside referral if needed.
· Works with STEP program (Student Tobacco Education Program) to educate students district-wide about the hazards of smoking.
-Students are selected and trained to make a variety of presentations. Cooperative efforts are made with the Miami Valley Health Improvement Council for training, etc. Students are encouraged to work with the STAND (Stop Tobacco And Nicotine Dependency). Presentations are made to all middle school students and all fourth grade students.
· Coordinates a donation from Gail Cyr-Church (December 12, 2003).
-Funds used to assist students struggling with substance use/abuse issues.
-Funds used to help educate staff & students.
-Funds used to purchase prevention materials.
-Funds used to assist families who have insurance difficulties.
· Legal Issues For Parents Who Host Teen Parties
Comments/Questions?
Go to the student services page
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Written by Michael Seaman. Last update April 30, 2008