|
Putnam Youth Summit Held Forum Re Underage Drinking
 | | Youth Summit Leaders, from left, Ashley Ruiz, Steve Guigliano, and Ashley Carey were among a dozen high school juniors and seniors acting as facilitators. |
|
As many as 80 students from seventh to tenth grades from the Carmel and Mahopac school districts met on February 8, for a six-hour Youth Summit at Putnam National Golf Club to consider and present ideas to help change the community culture as it relates to underage drinking. Students met to develop ideas to help prevent substance abuse among their peers.
The forum was in response to the Youth Survey completed through the Community that Cares initiative. It was sponsored by the Carmel and Mahopac school districts and the Putnam Interagency Council. Council chairs are Joseph DeMarzo, Director of the Putnam Youth Bureau, and Jeanne B. Gold, Ph. D. of Putnam/ Northern Westchester Board of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES).
The goal of the summit was to have students identify recognition and rewards they would value coming from their families, schools, and communities - actions that would help prevent substance abuse among their peers. "It has become crucial that we ask our young people directly," said Dr. Robert J. Reidy, Jr., Mahopac superintendent.
After a welcome address by Mr. DeMarzo, students divided into workshops to brainstorm and prioritize their ideas to present them to the group so a blueprint for action can be developed and implemented.
| Click ads below
for larger version
|
