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August-September 2017 Issue 38

In This Issue

Back to School

November SADD Conference

Highway Safety Memorial

Opioids

East Surry High School

West Johnston High School

Southwest High School

2017 SADD Calendar

Ideas? Questions? Concerns?

Contact

Harriett Southerland

919 807-4408

hsoutherland@ncsadd.org

Visit NC SADD. www.ncsadd.org

Facebook: ncsadd

Twitter: @SADDNC

SADD National www.sadd.org

www.ncsadd.org

After a summer break of play, fun, part-time jobs, and no books, we’re all revved

up for a new year of excitement and discovery. In the same way we make resolu-

tions for New Year’s Day, we should resolve to create stronger, more active,

more effective SADD chapters in this new school year. Resolve to get more

members in your chapters; to get your administration involved in your activities; to

make sure your entire school knows who you are and what you’re about; to stage

projects and activities in your schools and communities that change behavior; to

practice what you preach.

Students, lead your chapters. Your advisor is there to assist and guide you. You

don’t want to burn your advisors out by depending on them to plan all your pro-

jects. Go to your advisors with your new, enthusiastic ideas for projects and activ-

ities for your chapter. Being in SADD is exciting! Be sure to show this excitement

when you talk to other students about joining SADD.

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LET YOUR SHOES MAKE A STATEMENT

We know that shoes can make a great fashion state-

ment, but they can also make a statement of a differ-

ent fashion. Remember to bring shoes you no longer

wear to the conference to be given to the NC State

University Institute for Traffic Research and Educa-

tion. We are working to amass enough shoes to cre-

ate a memorial to our loved ones who lose their lives

to traffic crashes in North Carolina each year. The

shoes don’t have to be yours, they can belong to an-

yone. If your friends, classmates, neighbors or family

members have unwanted shoes, bring them too.

There will be a collection bin for the shoes at the con-

ference. When the memorial is displayed, you’ll feel

good knowing that you helped to create it.

TEENS AND OPIOIDS

Opioids are drugs

such as Vicodin, Ox-

yContin, Demerol,

codeine and heroin.

Legal opioids are

available by pre-

scription, usually to

treat pain. Opioids,

legal and illicit, now kill more Americans than traffic

crashes or guns. According to the NC Department of

Health and Human Services, opioid-related overdose

death rates are highest among ages 25-54. Despite

the continued rise in opioid misuse and overdose

deaths among adults, misuse of prescription opioids

has continued to decline among high school stu-

dents. Over the past five years, misuse has dropped

45%; from 8.7 to 4.8 %. Heroin use also remains

very low, with past-year use reported by 0.3 % in all

grades (National Institute on Drug Abuse).

Even though the percentage of student opioid abuse

is small in comparison to overall abuse, any recrea-

tional use of opioids by youth is too much. Further-

more, 75% of people who use heroin began with the

use of legal opi-

oids. As prescrip-

tion opioids be-

come more difficult

to obtain, users are

finding heroin more

readily accessible.

Most adolescents

who misuse prescription pain relievers are given

them for free by a friend or relative. (NIDA). However,

purchasing prescription drugs online without a valid

prescription is easy in today’s internet era. There are

40,000 to 50,000 internet pharmacies that engage in

the illegal sale of drugs, and it only takes a couple of

keywords and clicks to lead vulnerable teens to these

sites. (Sovereign Health).

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A growing number of teens buy opioids illegally

through smugglers, forged prescriptions and online

pharmacies. One young person said, “It simply takes

three little clicks, and I can have a 60-day supply of

Xanax shipped to my door by the end of the week.

The best part is, I don’t need to go to a doctor for a

medical prescription. All I need is a credit card.”

Many of our chapters have included prescription drug

abuse awareness and prevention in their programs for

the past several years, often collaborating with law

enforcement and Operation Medicine Drop. We want

to continue prescription drug abuse prevention in our

projects and activities and refer the addicted to local

treatment centers.

EAST SURRY FIGHTS OPIOID ABUSE

SADD members from East Surry High

School in Pilot Mountain (Surry County)

recently participated in a International

Overdose Awareness Day (IOAD) event on

the Bicentennial Mall in Raleigh. The event was spon-

sored by FED UP!, a coalition of organizations that

represent families and individuals affected by the epi-

demic of opioid addiction and overdose deaths.

A number of participants in the rally were addicts in

recovery and people who’d lost loved ones to heroin

and prescription opioids. There were parents who told

of losing their children to opioid overdose. A law en-

forcement agent was on hand to explain the im-

portance of naloxone (Narcan) when responding to an

overdose emergency. Naloxone is a drug that is ad-

ministered to reverse the depression of the central

nervous and respiratory systems caused by opioids

State Coordinator Harriett Southerland (Left), stopped by to lend support to East Surry SADD. (Left-Right): Oliva Gaskill, Chelsea Smith, Carrie Hazelwood and advisor Martha Cook in Raleigh for IOAD.

How you can help

It’s never easy to tell a friend that he or she

has a problem, but isn’t that what a friend

would do? Sometimes our friends won’t appre-

ciate advice they don’t want to hear—

especially if they're using drugs—but telling

the truth to help someone close to you is part

of being a real friend, even when it’s hard to

do. Figuring out what to do when a friend or

someone you know is having trouble with

drugs or alcohol can be tricky. You want to

help, but you might not know how to bring it

up. Here are some tips.

Listen. If they talk to you, just be there for

them. Admitting a problem—never mind talk-

ing to someone about it—is really hard. Listen

to what they have to say about their drug use

without making judgments.

Encourage. Suggest that they talk to an

adult they trust—a SADD advisor, a coach or

teacher, a school counselor, a relative, or a

doctor.

Share. Maybe your friend doesn’t see drug

use as a bad thing. But plenty of information

about what drugs can do to a person is on the

National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) web

site. Once your friend understands how drugs

affect their brain, body, and life, it might open

their eyes.

Inform. When there're ready to make a

change and seek treatment, help them find a

doctor, therapist, support group, or treatment

program. If you don’t know where a local treat-

ment facility is, You can use the Substance

Abuse and Mental Health Services Administra-

tion’s Treatment Facility Locator or call

1–800–662–HELP.

Support. Don’t give up on your friends, even

if they aren’t ready to get help. Keep reaching

out. Encourage them to get treatment, and

support them along the way. That’s the best

way to help someone you care about who is

struggling with addiction.

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East Surry SADD hosted a booth where they talked to

visitors and distributed literature about addiction.

Members Carrie Hazelwood, Oliva Gaskill, and Chel-

sea Smith also assisted organizers with setting

up and taking down the tents and booths for the

event. Advisor Martha Cook sang a beautiful rendition

of "Jealous of the Angels" as everyone in the crowd

held up a picture of someone who had lost their life

due to opioid addiction in America.

Opioid addiction is a major concern of the East Surry

SADD chapter because the members know people

who are struggling with the disorder. Advisor Cook

said that she has lost three former students to opi-

oids, attended funerals of students’ parents who died

of overdoses, and has been informed of three other

students who are currently in or were recently re-

leased from rehab for opioid and/or heroin addiction.

“I am sure there are more former and current students

going through this than I have been made aware,”

Cook said. “This epidemic has surpassed the AIDS

epidemic and has grown exponentially in Surry Coun-

ty. Last year, we lost 32 people total to overdose, and

this year we are already at 47,” she said.

Even though they were exhausted from their 12-hour

day, one student exclaimed, “This is the best field trip

I have ever been on!” Advisor Cook and the students

agreed that if one life was saved by the event, it was

worth the hard work they had done. The chapter is

planning more events this year to raise awareness in

the county’s schools and the community.

We thank East Surry SADD for their commitment to

helping young people make more positive decisions

about important issues in their lives. Go Cardinals!

WILDCATS OFF AND RUNNING

The SADD chapter at West Johnston

High School in Benson (Johnston Coun-

ty) started the year off working. They

staffed a SADD booth on Freshman Ori-

entation Day. The members greeted and talked to

incoming freshmen about SADD and the importance

of making positive decisions. They encouraged the

new students to give SADD a try.

West J SADD got the entire school involved in creat-

ing positive messages in the chapters annual Good

Decisions Poster Contest. Students submitted 59 en-

tries, and all the posters were put up around the

school to promote good decisions. The posters were

judged by the SADD Club. The top three winners re-

ceived Bojangles gift cards. Advisor Amanda Fisher

said, “There were so many good entries this year, and

we had a hard time picking the top three.”

East Surry SADD members (Center) with members of the West Stokes High School Random Acts of

Kindness Club

SAB member Landry Connors is excited to promote SADD on Freshman Orientation Day .

Senior Kim

Alexander’s car

interior took 1st

Place with a

Don’t Text and

Drive entry.

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Congratulations to these students on their achieve-

ments and their creative posters. Great job, West J!

Go Wildcats!

SOUTHWEST SADD IS SEEING DOTS

Southwest High School SADD in Jack-

sonville (Onslow County) has orga-

nized a Braille Club at their school. Ad-

visor Diane Dail reports that the idea

for the club was conceived at the 2016

State SADD Conference. “The students were asking

SADD co-advisor Rise Hatton what the braille sym-

bols meant on signs, doors, and in the elevators.”

Hatton is the lead Braillist for Onslow County Schools.

She converts textbooks, tests and other written mate-

rials into Braille for visually impaired students in ele-

mentary, middle and high schools. She also works

directly with the students to help them learn Braille.

The Braille Club currently has 22 members, most of

whom are SADD Club members. Hatton will be the

club advisor. The students will learn the basics: the

alphabet, how to write sentences, and how to read

the dots. They will also make their own Braille materi-

als and create a portfolio of their club activities. Advi-

sor Dail said, “They will add Braille to posters and fli-

ers that our SADD Club designs for upcoming activi-

ties we sponsor. We feel that learning about the visu-

ally impaired will help our members reach out to this

group of individuals who are often misunderstood and

left out of activities that other teens and children are

involved in. We are excited about this new branch of

our SADD chapter, and we look forward to seeing

what impact it will have on our students and their rela-

tionships with the visually impaired population.”

There is no limit to what empowered students can do!

Go Stallions!

KEEP ‘EM COMING

Our chapters are doing a great job of registering or

updating their registrations for the 2017-18 school

year. Thank you! We appreciate this because we

want all our chapters counted in the national num-

bers. Remember that you have to update your regis-

tration each year. If you don’t, it appears that your

chapter is no longer in operation. If nothing has

changed since you last registered, simply indicate this

on the registration update form. You can register at

http://sadd.force.com/registration. If you have any

problems registering, contact the state coordinator at

hsoutherland@ncsadd.org.

SEE YOU IN NOVEMBER!

Kermit the Frog

helped Senior

Melina Salano

win 2nd Place for

her Don’t Com-

mit Crimes entry.

Sophomore

Charity Martin’s

Don’t Drink and

Drive entry. won

3rd place.

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17-19 NC SADD Conference