Prevention Council

Providing Substance Abuse Education, Information and Referral Services

Partnership thanks community for support of All Stars Camp

Saturday, August 27, 2011
Letter to the Editor
The Saratogian

The Saratoga Partnership for Prevention, a program of The Prevention Council, would like to send its sincere thanks to the administrators, office staff and custodians at Maple Avenue Middle School for their help and cooperation in carrying out the 10th annual All Stars Summer Camp (formerly known as the D.A.R.E. All Stars Camp).

The camp, a collaborative effort between the Saratoga Springs City School District, The Prevention Council and the Saratoga Springs Police Department, was begun in 2002 to help ease the transition from elementary to middle school. Each year, campers tour the middle school, meet kids from other Saratoga elementary schools, hear about the middle school from older students, and become more prepared for the year ahead. They participate in team-building activities, adventure-based games, sports, dance, music and crafts.

They also take part in the award-winning All Stars curriculum, which has been proven to show long-lasting results in reducing alcohol, tobacco and other drug use, violence and sexual activity among middle school students.

The Saratoga Partnership for Prevention is a coalition of community leaders, organizations and citizens who are concerned about substance use among young people in our community.

Since 2000, when the Partnership was first formed, efforts like the

All Stars Camp have contributed to steadily declining alcohol and substance use rates among young people in the community.

In 2000, when the first youth survey was conducted with middle- and high- school-aged youth, 55 percent reported alcohol use within the past 30 days.

In 2010, when the most recent survey was conducted, that number had dropped to 39 percent.

National research has shown that substance- abuse rates diminish and the perception of harm increases when young people hear consistent no-use messages at home, at school and in their communities. We’re lucky to have so many people and organizations working toward this end right here in Saratoga.

All community members are welcome and encouraged to join the partnership. Meetings are held the second Wednesday of the month during the school year. For more information, go to www.preventioncouncil.org and click on the coalitions tab.

Maureen Cary, Saratoga Partnership for Prevention coordinator, The Prevention Council

Partnership for Prevention’s All Stars Camp Celebrates 10th Anniversary

May 27, 2011
Saratoga Today

SARATOGA SPRINGS –  There are still spaces available for the 10th annual All Stars Camp, a highly-regarded program that promotes smart decision-making and instills the core values of the recently discontinued D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) program.

Registration is open to fifth graders in the Saratoga Springs City School District for all four summer camp sessions: July 11-15, July 18-22, July 25-29, and August 1-5. There are plenty of spaces still available, but families should be sure to send their registration forms as soon as possible to ensure their children’s participation.

To sign up or obtain a registration form, log onto www.preventioncouncil.org. The Council will accept registration forms until the camp is full.

All four sessions of camp feature arts and crafts, sports, life skills workshops, and 9 interactive All-Stars workshops, where kids set goals for the future and promise to make smart choices to achieve those goals. All Stars is rated a model program by the U.S. Center for Substance Abuse Prevention, and it has confirmed, long-lasting results in reducing alcohol, tobacco, other drug use, violence, and sexual activity among middle school-age students. The last day of camp each week features a tour of the middle school, a treasure hunt, experiments with locker combinations, and discussions with Maple Avenue staff and students about middle school culture.

All Stars is recognized as a model program by the U.S. Center for Substance Abuse Prevention, and has proven long-lasting results in reducing alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use, as well as violence, and sexual activity among middle school-age students.

This fun-filled summer program has been educating middle school-age students to make a difference in our community for the past 10 years. All Stars Camp is a collaborative effort among Saratoga Schools, the Saratoga Springs Police Department, the Partnership for Prevention, and the Prevention Council that was founded in 2002 after the results of the first district-wide youth and parent surveys were returned.

The inaugural survey results indicated anxiety among children and parents about the transition to middle school, as well as elevated substance use levels at the middle school. In response to these core issues, members of the Partnership for Prevention launched a two-week pilot for 80 children at the Police Benevolent Range on Weibel Avenue.

In 2003, the camp grew to its current four-week session, where it has remained a sellout for nearly 200 children ever since. All Stars Camp moved to Maple Avenue Middle School last summer, and is expected to remain there for the foreseeable future.

“Over the years, we’ve gotten some incredible feedback from both parents and teachers about how much difference All Stars Camp has made in easing this first major school transition,” said Partnership Coordinator Maureen Cary. “Our bi-annual survey data [shows this] as well, with substance use and risky behavior in early middle school at record-low levels. We hope the next 10 years are as successful as the first 10.”

All Stars Camp is staying strong with the enormous and generous support of our community. The Saratoga partnership for Prevention includes youth, parents, and individuals representing key sectors and organizations concerned about youth within the Saratoga Springs City School District.

For more information, visit www.preventioncouncil.org or call (518) 581-1230.

Easing Transition Jitter: D.A.R.E. Camp Prepares Students For Middle School

August 11, 2010
By EMILY DONOHUE
The Saratogian

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Middle school can be a tough place, but the 200 incoming sixth-graders who attended the D.A.R.E. All-Stars Camp at Maple Avenue Middle School will have a leg up on their peers come September.

About one-third of the incoming sixth-grade class will attend the camp this summer.

The camp, in its 10th year, offers several weekly sessions for former fifth-graders to become acquainted with life in the middle school and learn skills to help them through the transition. Camp also gives students from the district’s six public elementary schools a chance to meet one another before beginning classes together in September.

One of the highlights of this year’s camp is a new anti-bullying program created and run by two soon-to-be ninth graders. The “Get Up, Stand Up” program — which complements a club at the middle school by the same name — teaches students techniques to counter and avoid bullying.

“They’re so real, the kids can relate to them,” Camp Director Erin Lloyd said.

Bobby Griffin, 14, said they are skills he and his classmates could have used when they were in sixth grade.

“It’s how to prevent it for yourself and be a little more self-sufficient,” he said.

Griffin developed the “Get Up, Stand Up” curriculum after his football coach said he wanted to do something about bullying.

“A lot of bullying goes on in the locker room,” Griffin said. The message carries more weight coming from a fellow student rather than a parent or teacher, he said.

He said the program’s slogan is “by the kids, for the kids.”

Griffin and his friend, Kenny DeLoriea, 15, have put on the program, which includes skits, props and music, weekly at the camp. “The kids get really into it,” DeLoriea said.

A group of about 20 students shuffled into the gym Tuesday, and Griffin and DeLoriea began their program with a series of questions.

“How many of you have ever been bullied?” DeLoriea asked. A few hands went up.

“How many of you have ever seen bullying?” he continued. Nearly every hand was in the air.

The first technique they taught the students was how to “rescue” someone they see being bullied.

“(Bullies) steal positive energy,” Griffin said. The students learned through skits how to walk away from bullies, draw the attention of adults by reacting loudly, and report bullies to teachers or the principal in a variety of ways, including the online EdLine which students can log onto from home and file reports directly to the school’s principal.

Griffin said his own experience reporting a middle school bully did not go as planned and prompted him to talk to teachers and principals about how to better handle the situation.

Rather than call the victim and bully into the same room and make the bully apologize — which happened to Griffin when he was a student at Dorothy Nolan Elementary School and just led to more bullying — the boys promote a technique that allows the victim to avoid being known as a “tattletale.” The adult wouldn’t confront accused bullies until well after the victim has told their story, and would avoid saying the victim ratted them out.

“A bully’s number one fear is getting caught,” DeLoriea said.

The anti-bullying class fit into Tuesday’s theme at camp — life skills. Members of the Saratoga Springs Fire Department also taught students fire safety, and a representative from Cornell Cooperative Extension taught nutrition.

Each day of camp has a theme, such as arts or sports, designed to prepare students for the possibilities and challenges they’ll face in middle school. The program covers decision-making, “what it means to be a good citizen here at the middle school,” and “what type of reputation you want to have here,” Lloyd said. It also includes “homework” for parents, which asks them to review the day’s discussions. Many of those assignments give parents a jumping-off point to talk to their children about subjects like drinking, drugs and sex.

This is the last year the camp will have “D.A.R.E.” in its name, Lloyd said. In years past, the city’s former D.A.R.E. officer, Tony Straus, was on hand to work with students.

“Unfortunately, with the budgetary cuts and the program being cut, we’re just going to have to take the D.A.R.E. out of our name,” Lloyd said.

The camp is funded with money from the school district, the Prevention Council and an $85 camper fee.