|
By RAELYNN RICARTE
News staff writer
December 16, 2006
Hood River Valley High School students will travel to Salem on
Tuesday to be honored by Gov. Ted Kulongoski for their
outstanding drug prevention efforts.
It will be the first time a group of teenagers has earned one of
the three annual awards. But, the young activists have more than
earned the distinction, said Maija Yasui, local prevention
coordinator.
She made the nomination after working with numerous teens who
advocated for a healthy lifestyle among their peers.
Yasui said it has been “awesome” to witness the outreach efforts
made by students in her role with the Hood River County
Commission on Children and Families.
“It was impossible to nominate just one club or individual, so I
had to include the entire student body in recognition of their
hard work,” she said.
About 40 members of the student body and their administrator
mentors will travel to the state capital on Tuesday. Kulongoski
will reward Hood River County’s representatives at 9:30 a.m.
Since Yasui also serves as an ad hoc member of the Governor’s
Council to Reduce Underage Drinking, she knew the criteria
required to earn the Outstanding Youth Community Service
Achievement Award. And she believed that Hood River’s students
had measured up to that high standard.
Members of the student body comprised 48 percent of the county’s
consortium of prevention coalitions. Included on the list of
organizations are the: Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drugs
Coalition, Si Se Puede, Guys Group, Inspirational Circle,
Operation Student Safety On the Move and Faith Connection.
Yasui said the county also received awards in 2004 and 2005 —
and she hopes the trend continues.
“We have a lot of people doing some good work and that is
exciting,” she said.
Some of the projects Yasui outlined in her nomination package
include:
* OSSOM putting tags on bottles of alcohol in area stores
that carry warnings about the dangers of drinking and driving.
* The annual Community Work Day that finds HRVHS students
performing labor in return for donations to charitable causes.
* The high school’s yearly canned food drive that
provided the FISH food bank with 26,000 items in 2005, meeting
about 41 percent of its needs.
* Students serve on several panels to educate their
peers, parents and community members about laws governing
alcohol, drug and tobacco use. In addition, they provide
information about how using intoxicants leads to risky behavior,
such as unprotected sex.
Yasui said not only do the students focus on prevention, they
also mentor active community involvement. For example, she said
many teens donate blood, and volunteer time with the Teen Court
program.
In addition, HRVHS raised $1,550 to aid the victims of Hurricane
Katrina, $4,000 for tsunami relief, and $5,000 to help a local
family that lost their home in a fire.
“We have a really great bunch of kids at the high school and
this is an honor they definitely deserve,” said Yasui. |
