ESD 112 helps reduce alcohol abuse in students through GRAA grant.
Project SUCCESS is designed to reduce and prevent youth alcohol abuse
In partnership with Educational Service District 112, Illwaco High School’s (Ocean Beach School District) drug and alcohol prevention efforts will be bolstered by a three-year grant.
Called “Grants to Reduce Alcohol Abuse” (GRAA) the money will be used to expand prevention intervention services at the high school. Eight high schools across the state of Washington are included in the project and will work in partnership with their local ESD to coordinate the delivery of the researched-based program, Project SUCCESS. Project SUCCESS is designed to reduce and prevent youth alcohol abuse. Ocean Beach School District prevention services are administered by ESD 112, with Sarah Taylor serving as the Prevention Intervention Specialist assigned to Ocean Beach School District. She will work full-time with counseling staff and administration at the high school to establish early intervention and prevention activities with an emphasis on alcohol-related problems.
According to the Washington State Healthy Youth Survey 2006, by the time students are seniors, over 25% are binge drinking and 42% report using alcohol in the past 30 days. In addition, less than 40% of seniors believe it is harmful to drink alcohol. This data is worrisome to educators as substance abuse has been correlated to poor academic performance, increased absences from school and school dropout, among other health and safety-related concerns.
“We are pleased that additional resources have been made available for prevention services,” said Superintendent Rainer Houser. “The money will enable us to devote more time teaching and helping students understand the dangers of substance abuse,” he added.
Total project funding to serve the eight high schools is $560,000 each year for three years and will be shared with eight ESD’s. The goals of this state-wide initiative are to decrease youth alcohol abuse and increase student’s perception that using alcohol is harmful and can lead to a multitude of problems.
Public Information - September 18, 2008