BRISTOL — This year, Hannaford Career Center and Mount Abraham Union High School have implemented the United Way of Addison County’s Health Education Learning Program (H.E.L.P.) into their health curriculum. Eighty-eight students have taken part since January. Students, staff and volunteer participants will be presenting the public service announcements they have been working on since that time on Wednesday, May 1, from 7-8 p.m. at the Mt. Abe Auditorium.
The H.E.L.P. program is aimed at teaching youth how to avoid the dangers of substance use by actively engaging them in the education process and empowering them to make a difference. For the past three years, UWAC has addressed this by implementing H.E.L.P in Addison County high schools. It is a comprehensive program that encourages students to adopt healthy behaviors, provides opportunities for them to practice new skills, prompts important peer discussions around substance use/abuse, and increases protective factors that are known to discourage substance abuse.
The program recently culminated with the completion of student-made “Prevention Public Service Announcement (PSA) Videos.” The winning PSA team will be awarded with a trip to Washington, D.C. for the CADCA Youth Summit, a national prevention networking conference.
The May 1 event will debut the students’ PSA’s, announce winners and present youth leadership awards. Attendance is free and refreshments will be served.
Learn more about H.E.L.P or the upcoming event by contacting Jesse Brooks, UWAC’s Prevention Coordinator, at [email protected] or at 802-388-7189.