Prevention Newsletter

YAK Night brings fun for Ilwaco students

Approximately 91 students and 20 adults spend Friday night from 7:00 to 11:00 having fun at the Boys and Girls Club in Ilwaco. The activity night for Ilwaco High School students was planned and put on by the Ilwaco Youth Action Klub (YAK). This is the third year the Boys and Girls Club have allowed the club to host YAK night in their space. The event has grown increasingly popular.

For $3 students enjoyed food, open gym, video games, board games, war ball, t-shirt deco-rating, and a lot of socializing. Students used the gym at the Black Lake campus to play badminton, basketball, and volleyball. The mat room in the old cafeteria was transformed into a massive, continuous game of war ball. With all the

physical activity the students worked up big appetites. Mr. Jon Ducharme was a mas-ter of the pizza pro-duction, cooking up and serving 20 pizzas for the students.

YAK present Grace Bruncke, with the help of other YAK mem-

bers, organized an energetic and exciting scavenger hunt. According to senior Emily MacDonald, “the scavenger hunt was really fun!” In the Boys and Girls Club game room students danced with Wii games and played with the Knex. “The Boys and Girls Club leaders are so wonderful and generous to allow us to use their space and equipment. It has really been an amazing partnership,” said YAK advisor Sarah Taylor.

Wellspring Community Net-work provided funding for YAK to be able to purchase t-shirts for all students who attended the event. Students and adults used fabric markers and puff paints to personalize and decorate their shirts. The

shirts make colorful appear-ances around the school that help to remind the students of the fun, substance-free event.

The Boys and Girls club also allowed students to use their scooters, hula hoops, ropes, and other physical game equip-ment. Being pulled around on a scooter by their friends was very entertaining for fresh-men Kassidy Plato and Ally Rose.

According to sophomore Isa-bella Bellissimo, “playing ‘Just Dance’ on the wii with every-one was my favorite part of YAK night.” Cookies, vegeta-bles, popcorn, cheetos, apples, cake, and other snacks were provided throughout the eve-ning. Freshman Noelle Derry and junior Tyler Long got cold, sticky hands, but kept big smiles on while dishing up the ice cream toward the end of the night.

After cleaning up and writing thank you notes, YAK members will get busy planning the next YAK night scheduled for March 22nd. For more informa-tion contact YAK advisor Sarah Taylor at 642-1244.

On December 7th members of the Youth Action Klub, Youth Empowerment Squad, and Wellspring Community Network worked together to place bot-tle tags on alcohol bottles in the stores of local retailers.

The team visited the Chinook Country Store, Ilwaco Market & Deli, Jack’s Country Store, Okie’s Thriftway, The Organic Market, Pioneer Market & Deli, Seaview One Stop, Short Stop Store-N-Deli, Sid’s Super Mar-

ket, and Surfside Mini Mart/Video to place tags. The tags remind those who pur-chase alcohol not to give it to minors. Thank you very much to the local businesses for partici-pating in this prevention pro-gram.

Inside this issue:

Locals present in Olympia

2

“Spice” linked to ER visits

2

Text helps smok-ers quit

2

Washington Connection

3

Alcohol Compli-ance Checks

3

More YAK Night Pictures!

4

YES/YAK participate in bottle tagging

Ilwaco Midd

le/High Scho

ol

December 2012

Volume 4, Issue 4

On Tuesday, November 27th, members of our local community traveled to Olympia to present information to a joint committee work session at the capital.

Katie Lindstrom, Deputy Director at Pacific County Health Department, Sandy Mathewson, Director of the Pre-

vention Center at Edu-cational District 112, and Mark Hattowe, Ocean Beach School District Superintendent talked to the elected

representatives about coordinated edu-cation and human services programs. The work session was a joint meeting between the Health and Human Services Appropriations and Oversight Commit-tee and the Education Appropriations and Oversight Committee looking at the impact of human services programs on educational outcomes.

Katie told the committee members about the work done by Wellspring Com-munity Network to coordinate resources and programs in the community and school. Sandy discussed the outcomes of

Project Success, the prevention program run at Ilwaco Middle/High School. Mark summed up the pres-entation by discussing the coordinated effort between Wellspring Community Network, ESD 112, and the local school district.

The committee members appeared im-pressed by the posi-tive outcomes achieved by the com-bined community and school efforts.

Supportive Text Messages May Improve

Chances of Quitting Smoking

Smokers trying to quit may be helped by receiving supportive text messages, a review of stud-

ies suggests.

The researchers concluded that text messages doubled the odds of quitting smoking within six

months, NPR reports.

The smokers who received regular

text messages started with an online support system, and set a quit date. When the day arrived, they received text messages such as, “Today, you should get rid of all the ashtrays in the house or car; you should have a plan be-cause it’s going to be hard in the first few days; make sure you have a plan to get support from

friends and family.”

Smokers could receive more per-sonal responses. For instance, a person who texted the word “crave” in response to a suppor-tive text would receive tips about how to work through cravings, such as “take a walk” or “eat a

little something.”

More than 11,000 people ended up in emergency rooms after using synthetic marijuana in 2010, mostly teenagers and

young adults.

Synthetic marijuana, commonly known as K2 or Spice, is a mixture of herbs, spices or shredded plant material that is

typically sprayed

with a syn-thetic com-pound chemically similar to THC, the

psychoac-tive ingredi-ent in mari-

juana. K2 is typically sold in small, sil-very plastic bags of dried leaves and marketed as incense that can be

smoked. It is said to resemble potpourri.

Short term effects include loss of con-trol, lack of pain response, increased agitation, pale skin, seizures, vomiting, profuse sweating, uncontrolled spastic body movements, elevated blood pres-

sure, heart rate and palpitations. In ad-dition to physical signs of use, users may experience severe paranoia, delusions,

hallucinations and increased agitation.

The report, from the federal govern-ment’s Drug Abuse Warning Network, is

the first to analyze the impact of syn-thetic marijuana. The report found 12-

to-17-year-olds accounted for one-third of the emergency room visits, while young adults ages 18 to 24 accounted for

an additional 35 percent.

Among patients ages 12 to 29, the report found 59 percent of those who paid visits to the emergency room for synthetic marijuana use had no evidence of other

substances.

In 2010, marijuana sent 461,028 people

to the emergency room.

In July, President Obama signed legisla-tion that bans synthetic drugs. The law bans harmful chemicals in synthetic drugs such as those used to make syn-

thetic marijuana and bath salts.

Synthetic Marijuana Sent 11,000 People to Emergency Rooms

Community and School Representatives present at Washington

State House of Representatives Work Session

Prevention Newsletter Page 2

Many Washington residents need help but don't know what services are avail-able. You or your family may qualify for any number of Federal, State, City or

other local benefits.

Washington Connection can do a pre-screening to see what pro-grams or ser-

vices you or your family may be qualified to receive from various State, Federal, or Local sources.

Enter in basic household informa-tion about your situation. Once com-pleted a results page displays with pro-grams that you might be qualified for.

This process takes approximately 15 minutes depending on your circum-stances. This is not a guarantee of bene-

fits but instead a guide to programs that you might be eligible to receive based on the answers provided. An appli-cation would be required to make a full determination.

Visit www.washingtonconnection.com

to:

⇒ Determine eligibility for all state

medical and other benefits

⇒ Apply for state programs

⇒ Setup an account to manage your

Washington Connection offers you a way to find and apply

for a variety of services and assistance online

Beginning December 2012, the WA

State Liquor Control Board will be

training local law enforcement on

how to properly implement alcohol

compliance checks. Law enforce-

ment from Long Beach Police De-

partment and Pacific County Sher-

riff’s Department recently partici-

pated in alcohol compliance check

training from UDETC (Underage

Drinking Enforcement Training

Center). These agencies will be

participating in

a joint opera-

tion with the

WA State Liq-

uor Control

Board for a

“hands-on”

training for the

first round of

checks. Ac-

cording to

Melissa Sex-

ton, “After this initial training with

WA State Liquor Control Board

our officers will begin regular alco-

hol compliance checks with local

retailers and bars.”

During December and in the

months to come, underage young

adults between the ages of 18-20

years old will attempt purchasing

alcoholic beverages. The minor

operatives have a permit or license

that they use to purchase the alco-

hol. The license isn’t fake; it is the

typical vertical license that indi-

cates that the person is under 21.

The youth do not coerce or “trick

the retailers” into selling alcohol to

them. Sexton says, “Our intention

is not to get local retailers into trou-

ble; rather to partner with them to

make sure we limit youth access to

alcohol.”

Law enforcement will work with

these minor operatives to properly

complete the checks. Any em-

ployee who sells alcohol to the un-

derage buyer will be referred to the

prosecuting attorney for criminal

prosecution. The business will also

be referred to the WA State Liquor

Control Board for administrative

action. If alcohol retailers have

questions, need training materials,

or have interest in the “Responsible

Alcohol & Tobacco Sales” class,

contact Kendra Treco, WA State

Liquor Control Board Officer at

(360)601-6775 or klo@liq.wa.gov.

Pacific County Health & Human

Services Department received an

Enforcing Underage Drinking Laws

(EUDL) grant and will be contract-

ing with local law enforcement

agencies during 2012 -2013 to com-

plete a series of alcohol compliance

checks. For additional questions

about the new compliance check

program, contact Melissa Sexton,

EUDL Coordinator, at (360)642-

9349 or (360) 875-9343.

Alcohol Compliance Checks to Begin Soon Thanks to Grant

Received by Pacific County

“Our intention is not

to get local retailers

into trouble; rather to

partner with them to

make sure we limit

youth access to

alcohol.”

Volume 4, Issue 4 Page 3

YAK—Youth Action Klub is open to all Ilwaco High School students. Meetings are held every Wednesday during 1st and 2nd lunches in the library. YAK focuses on helping students live a safe, healthy, substance free life.

YES—Youth Empowerment Squad is open to all Ilwaco Mid-dle and High School students. Meeting are held once a month. For more information contact Mrs. Kelly or Well-spring Administrator Monica Younger at 360-783-1090

P r e v e n t i o n

C e n t e r

Ilwaco Middle/High

School

PO Box F Ilwaco, WA 98624

Phone: 360-642-1244 Fax: 360-642-1224 E-mail: sarah.taylor@oceanbeachschools.org

We’re on the Web!

ocean.k12.wa.us

More YAK Night Photos!

Above: Sophomore Eli DeSimone along with freshmen Ally Rose and Kassidy Plato get pulled by friends on scooters.

Above right: Sophomore Fernando Martinez and senior Kevin Johnson enjoy a K’NIX game together.

Below right: Freshmen Ashley Zinn, Haleigh Richmond, and Avery Brooking chat on a pile of bean bag chairs.