Key Leaders participate in Communities That Care event

OLD TOWN – Are you interested in keeping local youth from substance abuse, teen pregnancy, violence, delinquency, and dropping out of school? Thirty-five community Key Leaders learned how community residents are doing just that when they participated in a Greater Old Town Communities That Care orientation recently.

Guest speaker Dr. Abby Fagan traveled from the University of Washington to give an overview of the CTC prevention system. Afterward, Dr. Diane Vatne, Greater Old Town CTC community coordinator, explained how using this framework has resulted 50-percent reduction in binge drinking, marijuana use and drug selling among eighth-graders in Greenbush, Indian Island, Milford, and Old Town over the past four years.

The most successful program in preventing problem behaviors in our area has been Life Skills Training. For the past several years, Kim Ketch in Greenbush, Keri Whitney in Milford, Kelly Cookson in Greenbush and Deb Ziobron in Old Town have been teaching all sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders about smoking, alcohol and marijuana myths and realities.

Other life skills they have taught are communication, self-image, making decisions, assertiveness, how to cope with anxiety and resisting peer pressure. As a result, the area has seen a 17-percent drop in the risk factor Favorable Attitudes Toward Substance Use between 2002 and 2006. That’s great news for the area, organizers said.

Pastor Jim Russ of Old Town’s Bethesda Chapel remarked, “Not all news about our youth is bad news; there is some good news out there.We’re seeing a considerable decrease in drug use in our eighth-graders. We’re hoping this continues and hoping for youth and GOT CTC to establish a better rapport with the community at large.”

Students at the middle school level are also experiencing a 13-percent greater commitment to school than they did in 2002. One of the programs responsible for this change is the After School Tutoring Program in Milford and Old Town.

College tutor-mentors are paired with students on a one-on-one or one-on-two basis and meet with them twice per week for one hour. These matches must last for a minimum of five weeks to make a difference. During this time, tutor-mentors really get to know the students in addition to helping them with their mathematics and reading skills.

Although Greater Old Town Communities That Care has seen significant positive change for youth over the past four years, there is still work to be done. Inhalant use among eighth- and 10th-graders continues to rise. Also, the right program to lower the risk factor of rebelliousness has not yet been found. Fortunately, the GOT CTC board is committed to finding solutions.

About the recent program, Vatne said, “We were thrilled to see many new leaders at the orientation that had not been previously exposed to the Communities That Care prevention system. They were very enthusiastic and asked great questions. The more people in our communities that know about the challenges our children face and which programs have worked, the greater our chances for helping our youth grow up to be happy and healthy.”

If you would like to volunteer with or learn more about GOT CTC, contact Diane Vatne, Greater Old Town CTC community coordinator, at 827-1544, ext. 129, or co-champions David Walker, 827-7171, and Julia O’Leary, 745-4433.