Meeting with Mrs. Marsh - 12/14/15

Today we met with Mrs. Marsh and talked more about getting the blurbs on the morning announcements and into the school newsletter. However, we are changing the date of our presentation. Kiara has contacted Colter Church and he has expressed interest in helping with our presentation. We are changing the date of the presentation because Callie, Kiara and I have become too overwhelmed with the stress of the holiday season on top of having to study for finals. We just were unable to coordinate everything in time for the presentation to be before Christmas Break because our lives just got too busy.
I didn't want to have to move the presentation, however, I knew that this would be the best in the long run. We didn't want to rush the presentation and not be prepared, and so we are continuing to collaborate and plan for a night which will work well for all of us and for our target audience. Therefore, at this meeting we discussed the date to be sometime at the end of January, and we will definitely stick to this date. This was a challenge for us in having to work around our schedules and move the date constantly, but we know that this date will work well and hopefully it will be a good day for people to come as well.

Meeting 11/19/15

Today, Callie and Kiara and I met again to discuss our upcoming presentation. At this point, we have discussed who we are wanting to talk at the presentation and decided that we are not going to contact the previous speakers we were considering but rather contact somebody else. Kiara's mom went to a presentation in which a man named Colter Church did a drug presentation. He works with the Mesa Country Drug Task Force and has seen first hand the effects of drugs and alcohol on teens within the Grand Valley. We are going to contact him and see if he has any interest in preparing a presentation to present to the parents and teens at our presentation night. We are thinking that he will be very influential because he not only is knowledgeable about the various drugs that teens are using today, but also because he has seen how they affect kids and can vie for the devastation which they induce in the present and the future.
Callie and I are preparing a blurb to put on the announcements and in the school newsletter, so that this event is better advertised.
Again, I think that this presentation should be successful. I'm looking forward to this because it truly is not just  a problem within the Grand Valley, but a problem all throughout the world. I realize that not everybody thinks that drugs are a problem or that their affects are blown out of proportion. However, I am aware of the effects of drugs and alcohol and I believe that people should be educated before they jump to conclusions about the pettiness of drug and alcohol use. Planning this event is exciting because we have the opportunity to reach out to people who might be affected by drugs directly or indirectly, and even if the presentation isn't a huge success, I will continue to try to educate and help those who might not know a lot about drug usage and its affects. I am truly enjoying this because I am not only helping others but I am becoming more comfortable talking to big crowds of people and becoming more comfortable around people in general. It has definitely been a challenge to overcome the naysayers and those who think that drugs aren't a big deal, but I becoming more confident in speaking up about what I believe and what I think.

Meeting with Kiara and Callie - 10/2/15

Today, Kiara, Callie and I met at Main Street Bagels to discuss a date for our presentation or Parent-Student night. We talked about what we wanted the presentation to look like, as far as guest speakers and how we would advertise it, and we are planning for the presentation to be sometime in December before Christmas break. We talked about the potential guest speakers from Hannah Carver and Kierra Hall (one who was a counselor for teens who struggled with substance abuse, and another who worked with troubled youth) and talked about contacting them. Obviously, we want the presentation to address the problem of teen substance abuse in the Grand Valley, but also we want to make teens and parents more aware of the problem and help them to realize there are other options for them rather than participating in drugs and alcohol.
We are thinking that this presentation should be a success. We know that drugs and alcohol are becoming increasingly worse in the valley and both teens and parents need to be informed. I am feeling confident in our ability to organize this and hopefully have a good turnout. I think that this is something that is beneficial for students who may be struggling with substance abuse but also need to know about how the different drugs they are abusing are affecting their brain  and future development.