Yolo program illustrates the consequences of drug abuse

NEWMAN – Alondra Avila’s Tuesday at Yolo Middle School was anything but typical.

Before the day was out, the sixth-grader had been “arrested” for swiping a vial of drugs from a display during a drug awareness program, booked, appeared in front of a Superior Court judge and met with her probation officer.

The day went from bad to worse from there.

In violation of her “parole,” Alondra attended a party where she collapsed after consuming alcohol and drugs. She was later pronounced dead in an emergency room, and wrapped up the day listening to her own funeral.

Her experiences were all an enactment, but the message for her classmates was all too real: Bad choices can forever change lives in an instant.

Alondra was one of the participants in the Drug Store Project, a collaborative effort of numerous agencies which graphically illustrated the potential consequences of drug and alcohol abuse.

Moving through a series of eight tents lining the middle school campus, Yolo students looked on as Alondra’s story unfolded.

Hers was one of 15 groups taking part in the powerful program, which has been in the planning stages since the start of the school year.

Within each group was a pre-selected volunteer who agreed to “steal” the narcotics from the display in the first tent, setting the chain of events in motion.

At each step of the way, the emphasis was on realism. Those “arrested” were fingerprinted at the juvenile hall tent, where a bleak picture of life on the inside was portrayed; appeared before Superior Court Judge Linda McFadden in the court room; and learned about the restrictions that came with their probation.....then, each hit the party scene tent, leading to their untimely – and completely fictional – demise.

But at virtually every step of the way, the message was that the consequences of real choices, from using drugs to throwing parties, can change lives forever.

The officials involved in each scenario were professionals who volunteered to take part in the event – from the county sheriff’s and probation department, the district attorney’s office, public defenders office and county courts, Newman police, West Side Ambulance personnel, emergency room doctors and many more.

In addition to the scenarios, students heard a gang awareness presentation and visited a number of static displays, among which were a Department of Justice helicopter, several units from the county sheriff’s department and a local fire truck.

Students were debriefed at the end of the intense program.

The Drug Store Project is a program of the Department of Justice and the National Guard and is presented in conjunction with local organizers, participating agencies and community sponsors.

The after-school program took the lead in bringing the program to Newman, with coordinators Dawn Lamantia and Claire Patereau spearheading the planning process.

One goal of the Drug Store Project, explained special agent Michelle Gregory of the Department of Justice’s Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement, is to create the most realistic scenarios possible.

“We have to make it as believable as we can,” Gregory explained. “Sometimes that is the only way to reach them.”

“A lot of the kids thought it was real,” Lamantia commented. “I think it has made a huge impact.”

The personal consequences of personal choices was magnified in the “funeral” services, where students gazing into an open casket saw their own reflection looking back at them in a mirror.

The program, organizers said, raised the awareness of adults as well as students – arming parents with some of the knowledge needed to help keep their children on a positive path.

And the Drug Store Project is most successful when it is truly a communitywide effort.

That was the case in Newman, where the program had the full support of the school district, sponsors, the city and other local and area agencies.

“It is most important for the agencies and communities to come together in this,” Gregory reflected. “It is the only way we will make a dent in this.”

Superintendent Rick Fauss praised the program.

“It is critically important that our middle school aged students see the life-changing impact of drug use,” he commented. “I hope they never forget its message.”

Staging the program was no small task.

Months of planning culminated with at least 10 agencies and 150 volunteers coordinating their efforts to present the program to the Yolo student body Tuesday.

The effort is well worthwhile, Patereau said, if the message sinks in.

“If we reach one student it was worth it,” she stated. “It if makes them think about the choices they are making, it is worth it.”