Food & Nutrition [Volume 18, Number 1]

              January 1988 Volume 18 Number 1
2
11 America's children
are WOrth it.'' Nancy Reagan
THE WHITE HOUSE
October 13, 1987
Dear Friends:
Over the past several years, I have
encouraged Americans to join me in a
campaign to rid our nation of drug and
alcohol abuse.
I am gratified that the United States
Department of Agriculture has respondeC.
with enthusiasm. Employees throughout the
Department are involved in a wide variety
of creative activities in support of the
campaign.
In particular, the Food anC. Nutrition
Service has undertaken a vigoro~~
information program for employees, the
public and, especially , the children in
schools served bv your school nutrition
programs.
I commend your initiatives in working with
dairy producers to print the "Just Say No"
to drugs message on the side panels of
schoo} milk cartons; in sponsoring poster
and essay contests for elementary school
children; and in enJisting FNS emplovees to
carry the message to their communities.
This issue of Food & Nutrition illustrates
the importance of individuals and whole
communities working together to find
solutions to the problem of drug abuse, and
thereby offering our children a brighter
future.
Again, thank you. Please keep on caring
and helping. America's children are worth
it.
Sincerely,
u~\\c.~
Photos of Mrs. Reagan courtesy of the White House January 1988
ust Say No
hile drug use by our
nation's youth has
plagued our society for
many years, the situa-
.__..;;:;;.._.....,. __ . tion has been steadily
worsening.
Drugs and drug culture are glam­orized
by music and television, while
athletes and public figures are indicted
and jailed for drug abuse--or found
dead of overdose. Media attention
focuses on children who experiment
with drugs at an earlier and earlier age,
and drug availability is shown to be
rampant.
Among growing public concern
about drug abuse, the White House
spearheaded an anti-drug campaign in
1983. It wasn't, however, until three
elementary school children, inspired by
First Lady Nancy Reagan's "Just Say
No" message, started the first "Just
Say No" Club in 1985 that the cam­paign
got underway.
Now Mrs. Reagan is the honorary
chairman of the Just Say No Founda­tion,
a nonprofit organization that links
and coordinates the 1 ,700 school clubs
across the country. The Foundation re­ceives
support from national organiza­tions,
such as 4-H and Girl and Boy
Scouts of America; private companies
and foundations; numerous celebrities;
one federal agency-Action; and one
federal department-Agriculture.
All USDA agencies
are contributing
USDA is the only department uniting
all of its agencies and offices to collec­tively
join the "Just Say No" cause.
Each USDA agency has designated a
"Just Say No" representative and has
drawn up a plan of action for its contri­bution
to the initiative. These plans
have been compiled into one catalog
and distributed to each agency to allow
for the greatest possible exchange and
sharing of ideas.
Mrs. Reagan and the Just Say No
Foundation have been ·very supportive
drugs," one of many sponsored by local -- -·-·-·-·-·~-~-~-~-~=~=~=~:::~::::::::;
communities to support the "Just Say
No" campaign. ..
Food and Nutrition 3
At FNS' "Just Say No" to Drugs Day, .•
three students-Keante Fears, Jean
Johnson, and Geoffrey Morris-received
awards. They are pictured (left to right)
with: school principal James Harris, Red­skin
Craig McEwen, Assistant Secretary
John Bode, and Deputy Secretary Peter
Myers.
of USDA's extensive efforts. "We've
been very happy with Agriculture,"
says Tom Adams, Foundation presi­dent.
"You found out what needed to
be done and you're doing it. You've
been very good about creating aware­ness
in the community about our
program."
In 1986, Assistant Secretary
John W. Bode recognized the need to
promote the "Just Say No" campaign
in schools. Bode, a father himself, feels
strongly about the need to control drug
use among school children and, there­fore,
was eager to contribute to the
campaign.
Bode initiated the Department's
effort, with the assistance of the Food
and Nutrition Service (FNS). FNS is
the one USDA agency ideally situated
to get the message out to schools.
Variety of activities
help reach children
One way the message is reaching
school children is on milk cartons
served through the National School
Lunch Program. FNS was encouraged
that the dairy industry joined in this
effort.
FNS is also using its seven regional
public information offices to place and
promote the use of "Just Say No" pub­lic
service advertisements in thousands
of local newspapers nationwide.
In addition, FNS and the American
School Food Service Association
are combining efforts to raise student
awareness of the "Just Say No" mes­sage
and to encourage the formation
of new clubs. FNS and ASFSA are
working closely together in determining
where their efforts may be used most
effectively.
ASFSA is considering several pro­posals,
one of which is to coordinate
activities such as a national poster and
essay contest. Since virtually all school
food service directors are members of
ASFSA, the Association can give na­tional
direction and leadership to local,
state, and national activities.
"Just Say No" clubs stay busy with
four of activities-educational,
al, servjce, and "peer re-
.' Peer refus~l Involves learning
"T~ree Steps to Say No":
• Step 1: Figure out if what your ...... ·.·.·.·.·.·:·:·:·:·:·:·::::::::::::
friend wants to do is okay. McEwen of the Washington Redskins
• Step 2: If it's wrong, say "No." football team stressed that we must not
• Step 3: Suggest other things to do depend on drugs to help us through
instead. the occasional rough times we face.
At an age when peer acceptance is Assistant Secretary Bode presented
so important, saying "No" to their awards to two students from Wash-friends
is probably the hardest lesson ington's Van Ness Elementary School,
these children face. Yet, as Bode has who were winners of an FNS-spon-observed
first-hand, more and more sored poster contest, and to the winner
children are making the right choice. of an essay/poetry contest sponsored
"When I first heard about the 'Just by a northern Virginia community
Say No' clubs in schools, in my mind 1 homeowners' association.
was doubtful they'd attract great num- Other events of the day were a panel
bers of students. But as I've traveled discussion by parents and children of
around the country visiting schools, Straight, Inc., a nationally recognized
I've been astonished by the vitality of drug treatment program, and a presen-the
clubs and the number of kids actu- tation by representatives of the Alex-ally
saying 'No. ' andria Police Department's Crime
"These organizations are helping Prevention Section and Vice and Nar-kids
recognize the acceptable alterna- cotics Section.
tives to drugs." Throughout the coming year, FNS
"Just Say No" clubs offer peer rein- will continue working with ASFSA,
forcement to children by helping them schools, and local communities pro-realize
they are not alone in wanting to mating the "Just Say No" message.
avoid drugs. The activities of the clubs Bode encourages employees of
help spread the "Just Say No" mes- USDA and state and local agencies
sage throughout the schools and that work with USDA to carry the "Just
communities. Say No" message home to their chil­Special
day began
campaign at FNS
FNS, too, is spreading the message
to its community of employees. As a
kick-off to its campaign, FNS held a
"Just Say No" Day in November. FNS
Administrator Anna Kondratas, Deputy
Secretary Peter Myers, and Assistant
Secretary Bod.e were all there to give
their support to the anti-drug
campaign.
Special guest speaker Craig
dren and communities. 'The drug
problem has touched so many fam­ilies,"
he says. "There's hardly a per­son,
in or out of government, who
hasn't known someone who has
abused drugs.
"We have to fight this problem
everywhere it exists. The cause is
so important."
article by Catherine Whitehurst
pf'lotos by Larry Rana and
oqurtesy Portsmouth Daily Times
January 1988
Getting The Message
To Children ·
or more than four decades,
schools, USDA, state agen­cies,
and food companies
have been partners in provid­ing
nourishing meals to
children through the National School
Lunch Program. Now, some new part­nerships
are helping get the anti-drug
message to children. Here are some
examples:
Pet Dairy Gives
''Just Say No"
A Boost In
The Southeast
Kids are used to being told , "Drink
your milk, it's good for you." But,
"Read your milk carton"? That's some­thing
new.
This year, in many schools across
the country, kids will be seeing a daily
reminder of the "Just Say No" mes­sage
on milk cartons used in the Na­tional
School Lunch Program.
Pet Dairy, headquartered in Johnson
City, Tennessee, is one of the major
sponsors of the "Just Say No" move­ment
in the Southeast and was the first
dairy in the nation to incorporate the
now familiar "Just Say No" logo on its
school-distributed milk cartons.
Since April 1986, Pet has printed
"Just Say No" messages on more than
90 million half-pint milk cartons used
by schools in their food service
programs.
"Returning something
to the community"
Ralph Gombert, Pet's director of
marketing, explains that the company
is interested in returning something to
the community, not only with jobs, but
in service opportunities like "Just
Say No."
Pet Dairy has used milk side panels
to show information such as good den­tal
practices and pictures of missing
children as well as to raise money for
Food and Nutrition
needy youngsters.
"The 'Just Say No' campaign
seemed like a natural for us," says
Gombert.
Pet has worked with the Just Say No
Foundation to spread the anti-drug
message through many activities. One
way they have done this is by mailing
to 750 elementary schools throughout
the Southeast informational packets
encouraging the formation of "Just Say
No" clubs.
As an incentive for fourth , fifth, and
sixth graders to participate, Pet gives
away prizes such as "Just Say No"
banners and sponsors ice cream car­nivals.
Pet also presents U.S. Savings
Bonds and citizenship awards to de­serving
students.
For other companies interested in
helping, Gombert recommends contac­ting
the national Just Say No Founda­tion
or state organizations.
" If you have a local promotion idea,
the national organization will be very
flexible in working with you and will co­ordinate
the use of the logo to ensure a
consistent message is being pro­moted,"
he says.
Many communities
have gotten involved
Throughout Tennessee, interest in
helping kids stay away from drugs is
growing. The Tennessee Department
of Education has been very active in
organizing a "Just Say No" effort, and
in what's called the Tri -Cities area-
..
"Just Say No" has become a regular part (j
of school lunch. in many areas, thanks to
companies like Pet Dairy, which is print- '
ing special messages and illustrations on
milk carton side panels. •
'5
which includes Bristol, Pet's homebase
Johnson City, and Kingsport-"Just
Say No" is especially stron~ .
At Johnson Elementary in Kingsport,
former school food service worker
Wilma Roberts is part of the solution
when it comes to drug and alcohol
awareness. Roberts, who recently be­came
a teacher's resource aide at the
school, has always been interested in
students' well-being. This year she is
PTA chairperson for "Just Say No" ac­tivities
at Johnson.
" It's important that students have
friends who can say no to drugs," says
Roberts, who is promoting a drug-free
environment with a variety of activities
that are fun for children.
Events already planned include a
1950's sock hop with trophies ; slogan
and button design contests ; and com ~
munity service projects.
6
"Just Say No" clubs in the Tri-Cities
area have a variety of local sponsors.
For example, in Johnson City, a re­gional
department store is sponsoring
the club at Towne Acres Elementary.
The clubs at Kingsport's John Sevier
Middle School and Johnson Elemen­tary
are sponsored by local chapters of
a national civic organization, the Opti­mist
Club.
School staff
are supportive
School administrators and staff are
eager to help.
School food service managers, for
example, are incorporating "Just Say
No" activities in their school food serv­ice
programs in a number of ways. In
addition to using the special milk car­tons,
some are serving meals on
styrofoam trays with the "Just Say No"
message embossed on them . Other
ideas being considered include dis­playing
the slogan on murals, banners,
table decorations, and meal tickets.
School superintendents are also in­volved.
Jimmy Fleming, superintendent
of schools in Sullivan County, partici­pated
in Tennessee Governor Lamar
Alexander's drug awareness task
force.
"As a result of this task force, we
recognized we could face a real drug
and alcohol problem. One of our rec­ommendations
was to set up a drug
prevention effort, which turned out later
to be the 'Just Say No' program ,"
Fleming says.
The reaction to the "Just Say No"
program has been positive, Fleming
says, because so many people are af­fected
. " It's difficult to say you want to
educate a child and not be concerned
with habits that may be developing in
public schools."
When he visits other communities he
tells them they must set their own
standards and decide what to empha­size
in an anti-drug effort. He tells peo­ple
they need to get involved because
their children are at stake.
An example of what
communities can do
What's happening in Tennessee is a
truly cooperative effort, with private in­dustry,
civic groups, parents, teachers,
and school administrators working to­gether
to help children make good
choices.
As school superintendent Jimmy
Fleming puts it, "Aren't our children
worth it?"
For more information, contact:
Clay Coble, Director
Tennessee Child Nutrition Programs
Department of Education
208 Cordell Hull Building
Nashville, Tennessee 37219-5338
Telephone : (615) 741-2927
Ralph Gombert, Director of Marketing
Pet Dairy
P.O. Box 0, CRS
Johnson City, Tennessee 37602
Telephone : (615) 282-2711
article and photos
by Kent Taylor
Tim Hall and other Kingsport students
are proud of the autographed picture
they received from the President and
Mrs. Reagan for starting one of Tennes­see's
first "Just Say No" clubs.
January 1988
Cincinnati~ Based
Pierre Frozen Foods
Lends Merchandising
Know-How and
Support
In the Midwest, employees of the
Cincinnati-based Pierre Frozen Foods
company have taken a personal inter­est
in the "Just Say No" campaign, in­spired
by the commitment of Pierre's
director of manufacturing, Fred
Rutherford.
When President and First Lady
Nancy Reagan went on national televi ­sion
to support the "Just Say No" ini­tiative,
Rutherford was one of the
millions of viewers across the country.
'The television program was still on
my mind as I drove to work the next
day," he says. " It occurred to me that
we could use Pierre's merchandising
skills to help sell the 'Just Say No' pro­gram
to school children."
Pierre Frozen Foods is a leading
processor of pre-portioned meat prod­ucts
and has for many years supplied
school lunch programs with processed
products made with USDA-donated
beef and pork.
Company responded
quickly to idea
Within days of the President and
First Lady's pleas for support, Pierre
was furnishing schools throughout the
country with red, white, and blue "Just
Say No" banners and stickers.
Now, a year later, Pierre has dis­trib,~
ted more than 100,000 "Just Say
No banners and more than 4 million
stickers in thousands of school
cafeterias.
Pierre is currently promoting the
"Just Say No" school food service
merchandising program through direct
ma1l and advertising in the American
School Foodservice Journal.
Rutherford says that one of the most
rewarding aspects of the promotion is
the many letters of appreciation Pierre
Frozen Foods has received from
school food service directors who care
about their students.
"Some schools have built a special
occas1on around a 'Just Say No'
st1cker day," he says. "A Frankfort,
Kentucky, school invited Governor
Martha Lane Collins to attend, and an
Oshkosh, Wisconsin, school extended
an invitation to Nancy Reagan herself."
Food and Nutrition
"This has been our most successful
promotion ever," says Pierre's govern­ment
relations manager Jean Harris.
"Not only have we had the highest
response we've ever gotten, all Pierre
employees have taken an enormous
amount of pride in the fact that we are
helping students say no to drugs."
For more information, contact:
Jean Harris
Pierre Frozen Foods
9990 Princeton Road
Cincinnati, Ohio 45246
Telephone: 1-800-543-1604 outside
Ohio, or 1-800-582-7116 in Ohio.
article by Lawrence Rudman
McOuskey Foods
Tells Students
To "Be Smart"
About Drugs
Idaho students are reminded to "Be
Smart, Don't Start" in a steady stream
of materials provided by McCluskey
Foods, a commercial food wholesaler
and distributor.
The Idaho Department of Education
approached McCluskey to carry the
message to students because of the
firm 's long history of close association
with school districts across the state.
McCluskey is under contract with the
Department of Education to deliver
USDA commodities to schools, elderly
feeding programs, and institutions.
Laura Burns at McCluskey says, " It's
very appropriate that we do this kind of
thing because we're in such close
contact with the districts ." Along with
food, McCluskey has always provided
schools with newsletters and other
materials about health, fitness, and
other topics.
The target for the anti-drug materials
is fifth and sixth graders. "We feel we
need to reach students before they're
exposed to the greater temptations to
experiment which they'll experience in
junior high ," says Burns.
McCluskey gives schools a variety
of materials, including posters and
stickers (which can be used on lockers
as well as car bumpers) and a variety
of pamphlets targeted to teachers,
parents, and students.
Schools can also request from
McCluskey videotape and slide show
Milk cartons from California's Ad~~;.·.·.·.·:·
Farms feature cartoons from Archie
Comics. Archie's message to kids: "I
don't need drugs."
programs provided by the National
Institute on Alcohol Abuse and
Alcoholism. McCluskey recommends
schools show the 2- or 3-minute
musical programs during lunch periods
to catch everyone at once.
For more information, contact:
Laurie Burns
McCluskey Foods
P.O. Box 1390
Caldwell, Idaho 83606-1390
Telephone: (208) 888-3300
article by Tina Serrano
Cartoons Lead
The Way In L.A.
In Los Angeles, more and more
. products are showing up in school
kitchens with anti-drug and alcohol
messages, according to Anita King of
the Los Angeles Unified School
District.
It began in school year 1986-87
when milk from Adohr Farms began
arnvmg 1n half-pint cartons with an
Archie .Gartoon filling one panel. The
cartoons portrayed different situations
where Archie and his friends defer
from drugs. Archie Comics supplied
the "I Don't Need Drugs" public service
messages and Adohr incorporated
7
...
them into the milk packaging.
This school year the Balian Ice
Cream Company is printing "Just Say
No to Drugs and Alcohol" on the
packages of two of their products­"
Orange Frosties" and the "L.A. Fruit
Blend." Both are 1 00-percent fruit juice
which is "slushed" and frozen and
eaten out of the cup with a spoon.
Los Angeles students also see the
"Say No" message on styrofoam cups
which the district buys from Cocoa
Cola. Coke provides the artwork free
and will even custom-design cups for
schools' anti-drug efforts.
King feels the movement is gaining
momentum and she expects students
will see more anti-drug and alcohol
messages as more manufacturers get
involved.
" I've got some sample napkins
sitting here in front of me, for
example," she says, "with several
different 'Say No' messages to choose
from .
"We're serious about getting the
word to these kids ," King says, "and
these all help."
For more information, contact:
Beth Louargand, Food Services
Los Angeles Unified School District
P.O. Box 2298 Terminal Annex
Los Angeles, California 90051
Telephone: (213) 742-7064
article and photos
by Tina Serrano
8
Student's Design
Helps Spread Word
in Alaska
In Alaska, state school food service
association president Linda Stoll is
playing a key role in spreading the
"Just Say No" message.
As a result of her work, two of the
"big four" Alaska school districts are
already using milk cartons with a
special student-designed anti-drug
message on them, and the remaining
two districts are expected to pick up
the idea soon.
Stoll attended the ASFSA annual
conference in July and resolved to do
something to get the "Just Say No"
message to students. On her flight
home, she spotted a fellow traveler
drinking from a milk carton with such
a message.
When she returned to Alaska, she
approached Anchorage high school
student Nueharth Shane, whose T-shirt
design she'd seen at an anti-alcohol
fundraising run. Shane had drawn a
stop sign superimposed over ciga­rettes,
beer, and alcohol, and the
words, "Stop, Think. Just Say No to
Drugs and Alcohol."
Matsunuska Maid Dairy agreed to
put the message on half-pint milk
cartons they supply to districts in
Whether they are drinking their milk or
eating frozen fruit "slush," these Los
Angeles students get daily reminders to
say "no" to drugs.
Matsunuska and Kenai.
In addition to using the artwork
themselves, compp.ny managers are
also making it available to another
dairy which serves Anchorage and
Fairbanks. If the second dairy uses the
idea, Shane's bright red stop sign will
reach three-quarters of the students in
the state.
Stoll has other plans, too. The
Alaska ASFSA, for example, is
designing a menu planning form with
the same artwork, which they will make
available to every district. Carr's, a
large supermarket chain throughout
Alaska, is considering putting the
message on their shopping bags, and
Matsunuska Maid may put the
message on quarts and half-gallons of
milk sold in stores.
Not only young Alaskans, but their
parents, too, will get the message to
stop and think about drugs and
alcohol.
For more information, contact:
Linda Stoll
Matsu School District
P.O. Box 1688
Palmer, Alaska 99645
Telephone: (907) 376-5381
article by Tina Serrano
January 1988
Communities
Fight Drug Abuse
A cross the country, people
concerned about children
are working to help them
understand the dangers of
L...;;;;;;;;......,;;;;;;;;;;;..~ drug and alcohol abuse.
In the following articles, we look at
how parents, teachers, and civic
leaders in three communities are giving
children the support and encourage­ment
they need to stay away from
drugs. School food service directors
and health educators in these commu­nities
are playing important roles not
only in teaching children, but in gener­ating
widespread community interest in
drug abuse prevention and treatment.
Concern Leads
To Action In
Small Midwest
School District
" If the kids want drugs, they can get
them."
"The price of cocaine is becoming
competitive with pot."
"Alcohol is the number one drug of
abuse."
The voices come from a grade
school principal, a school lunch direc­tor,
and a teacher, not in Chicago or
Miami, but in Palmyra, Wisconsin, pop­ulation
1 ,500, quintessentially
hometown, rural America.
School lunch director Connie Jan­sen,
social sciences teacher Nick
Niehausen, and Donna Kalnes, princi ­pal
of neighboring Eagle Elementary
are only three of hundreds of parents,
residents, teachers, and students who
not only recognized the threat of drugs
in their communities, but decided to do
something about it.
Palmyra now has a community-wide
drug and alcohol awareness effort.
Included are prevention programs for
elementary and junior high students,
an intervention program for high school
Food and Nutrition
students, and parent and support
groups for students and family mem­bers.
Every student in grades 1-6 has
signed the "Just Say No" pledge.
Problems apparent
in early 1980's
The community first became aware
of problems in the early 1980's when a
physical education teacher discovered
that an emotionally disturbed student's
difficulties were rooted in drug abuse.
"After organizing a parents group,
one parent offered to conduct training
in drug prevention," says Donna
Kalnes.
A survey of Palmyra/Eagle students
revealed the depth of the problem. In
response to "Have you ever taken or
drunk alcohol without anyone knowing
it?", 18 percent of first through third
grade students, 29 percent of fourth
through sixth grade students, and 58
percent of seventh and eighth grade
students said yes, they had. Another
39 percent of high school students said
they had a friend who drank too much.
To begin dealing with the problem,
the district instituted a pre-designed
program called Project CHARLIE­Chemical
Abuse Resolution Lies in
Education.
"Basically a prevention-oriented pro­gram,"
Kalnes explains, "Project
Connie Jansen (center), food service di­rector
for the Palmyra-Eagle district, is
active in anti-drug efforts.
9
CHARLIE is designed for elementary
students and focuses on self-esteem,
self-concept, building good relation­ships,
and learning how not to let
someone else speak for you."
At the junior high level, Palmyra/
Eagle started a prevention-based pro­gram
called "Choices," and at the high
school level, a student assistance pro­gram
called " Decisions."
Implemented with a Drug Abuse
Intervention grant from the sta:te
department of public instruction, " Deci­sions"
provides support, information,
evaluation, guidance, and referral for
treatment for students who show signs
of a drug- or alcohol-related behavioral
problem.
Recommendations for assistance
may include participation in a com­munity
self-help group, referral to a
community agency, or participation in a
school support group.
School lunch director
plays an active role
As food service director for the dis­trict,
Connie Jansen is in a unique
position to observe any alcohol and
drug disorders. Because of her close­ness
to students, Jansen volunteered
to attend a workshop on drug and alco­hol
abuse prevention and intervention.
"I learned to differentiate between a
student who was expressing real need
for help and just student 'smart-talk',
how to role play and lead a group, and
how and when to make referrals,"
she says.
"I see the kids in a relaxed
atmosphere. I can see when eating
habits change, appetites change. I'm in
very close contact with the kids. "
Teacher Nick Niehausen, who dou­bles
as coordinator of Palmyra High
School's student assistance program,
agrees that Jansen's availability to stu­dents
during lunch periods helps the
credibility of their drug and alcohol
intervention efforts.
"The kids see Connie every day.
They trust her. She's a real asset to
the program," he says.
Community awareness and support
are also assets, according to
Niehausen.
"Community support in the Palmyra/
Eagle District is phenomenal," he says.
"More than 350 people turned out for
an organizational drug and alcohol
abuse awareness meeting in 1985."
10
Niehausen believes the district's
efforts are paying off. "So far, 75 par­ents
have signed a pledge to ensure
that social events such as parties at
home are alcohol and drug free, and
have an adult chaperone present."
Signs of success
are encouraging
Project CHARLIE educational efforts
at the elementary level result in greater
acceptance of prevention and interven­tion
programs at the high school level,
Niehausen adds.
District administrator Lance Fan­shaw
agrees that they·are seeing signs
of success.
"I've noticed that the kids don't bend
as easily as they used to. They are not
afraid to say 'No,'" he says. " It makes
things better for the kids, and it makes
better kids ."
For more information, contact:
Lance K. Fanshaw
District Administrator
Palymra/Eagle Area School District
Palmyra, Wisconsin 53156
Telephone: (414) 495-2115
article and photo
by Lawrence Rudman
Florida Rotarians
Make Saying No
A Fashion Trend
Thinking about what's best for chil­dren
is what Robert Buffmire's job is all
about. He's school food service direc­tor
for Brevard County, Florida, and
has been for 22 years. But his concern
for children extends far beyond his job.
Buffmire is a member of the Cocoa,
Florida, Rotary Club, which annually
sponsors a number of service projects,
many of which are youth-oriented.
Buffmire, who is president-elect for the
1988-89 term, is especially proud of
the role his club has played in support­ing
the "Just Say No" campaign.
"We have a lot of local drug arrests
considering the size of the cities in this
area," he says. "I read recently that 80
percent or more of the cocaine coming
into the United States comes through
Florida. Some of it is stopping and
staying in the state.
"Our Rotary Club wanted to help law
enforcement officials and schools keep
a lid on the drug problems."
To promote "Just Say No," members
purchased 1 ,000 tee-shirts printed with
the anti-drug slogan. At a Rotary Club
meeting planned especially for the
occasion, they gave the shirts to the
principals and two student representa­tives
from each of seven area
elementary schools.
Soon afterwards, the principals held
special assemblies or other programs
to pass out the tee-shirts and provide
information about the dangers of
drugs. In some cases, the shirts were
the catalyst for a year-long series of
"Just Say No" activities in the schools.
Gardendale Elementary
is a good example
One school that has been very
active is Gardendale Elementary on
Merritt Island. Gardendale's principal,
AI Narvaez, is one of two elementary
school principals who belong to the
Cocoa Rotary Club and who were
especially eager to assist with the
project.
The Rotary Club provided enough
tee-shirts for Gardendale's fourth, fifth,
and sixth graders. The day after
teachers distributed the shirts, students
wore them to school for a special anti­drug
assembly featuring Congressman
Bill Nelson as guest speaker.
"The assembly was a 'mega-event'
not only because it brought the con­gressman
to school, but it also was the
kick-off of Gardendale's 'Just Say No'
club," Narvaez says.
Throughout the past year, the Rotary
Club's tee-shirts have served as quasi
uniforms for Gardendale's "Just Say
No" club members.
Members wear their shirts to school
on designated days and often when
there's no special occasion. The tee­shirts'
faded colors give mute testi­mony
of frequent washings and
wearings.
Students' interest
has remained strong
A variety of activities keeps interest
strong. Each fourth, fifth, and sixth
grade class chooses a representative
to serve on a school coordinating
council which meets regularly with
Principal Narvaez and other school
staff to plan bimonthly "Just Say No"
activities.
Activities have included classroom
projects, such as making posters or
having discussions on drug-related
topics, and special programs with films
and guest speakers.
January 1988
Tee-shirts donated by Cocoa, Florida,
Rotarians have made a big hit with area
youngsters, including these students from
Gardendale Elementary School.
Food and Nutrition
Students have also participated in
events like a "Hands Across Garden­dale"
breakfast for the community task
force and the Merrit Island Christmas
parade. For the parade, they made a
club banner and carried it while chant­ing,
"Just say no to drugs."
"That had a terrific impact in the
community because it showed that
children were really concerned," says
Narvaez.
According to Gardendale's school
counselor, Nancy Arnold, a few stu­dents
have already been approached
about drugs and have had a chance to
say "no." The Cocoa Rotary Club
won't be saying "no," however, to the
schools that have requested the con­tinuation
of the tee-shirt project.
Because of feedback from school
personnel and others about the worth
of this "Just Say No" project, the
Rotary Club has voted to purchase tee­shirts
again this year for elementary
school students.
For more information, contact:
Robert Buffmire
School Food Service Director
Brevard County Schools
2095 W. King Street
Cocoa, Florida 32926
Telephone: (305) 631-1911
article and photos
by Brenda Schuler
11
New Jersey Health
Educator Gives
Kids Inform(\.tion
And Respect
Robert Pearson knows that no mat­ter
how wealthy or poor a community
is, drug problems exist. Pearson is
director of health, physical education,
and athletics for the affluent Millburn
Township schools in northern New
Jersey.
Pearson has seen a lot in the 30 or
more years he has been involved with
Millburn schools. "Every community
has drug problems," he says. "They
would be foolish to deny it. We just
work hard to solve our problems."
Many approaches
make his point
Pearson does his best to positively
influence the lives of his students
through the programs he heads. He
uses many angles and techniques to
reach children. The most telling is a lit­tle
technique he employs with
elementary school students.
He shows students a small gift, a
box that is nicely wrapped and topped
with a bow. Pearson says, "People talk
. . . about how the drug problem can be
solved. I take the top off the box, take
12
the cotton out, and the youngsters see
the mirror-an image of themselves.
"We talk about self-image, self­esteem.
I can't teach that, but we can
develop it by working on strengths and
weaknesses. I tell children to do what
they do well, what makes them feel
good.
"I tell my athletic coaches to encour­age
our athletes. Give positive
reinforcement, praise. Don't tear them
down and belittle them. If I can get you
to feel good about yourself, you won't
want to get in trouble, get into drugs."
Pearson also believes in giving stu­dents
as much information as possible
on a variety of health-related topics, to
let them make informed choices for
their lives.
He says, "Even with my own chil­dren
I have tried to not pass judgment
on issues, but to give them as much
information as possible, to help make
them responsible for their own lives."
Many programs
keep agenda busy
Pearson works both within the regu­lar
classroom curricula and on many
special programs throughout the year.
One interesting special program is
an audiovisual unit on alcoholism for
third graders. Called "Chug," the unit is
from the U.S. Department of Trans­portation
.
Chug is a frog who lives under a
bridge and eats whatever people throw
down to him. According to Pearson,
the program stresses that too much of
anything, including alcohol, is no good.
With his athletes, Pearson stresses
the need to be drug-free. All parents of
athletes get a letter from him discuss­ing
the dangers of drugs and alcohol
and telling them that the coach and
athletic director don't want their young­sters
to drink or use drugs.
Last year, Pearson ran a program for
athletes that included a former athlete
who nearly destroyed his life by using
drugs. "He was a fine athlete," says
Pearson. "But he's lucky to be alive.
Most of his friends are dead."
Community involvement
is central to efforts
Much of Pearson's work involves
the community. "We started doing pro­grams
on drugs with students and
parents about 4 years ago. Parents
were naive," says Pearson. "We
wanted to open communication so they
could know more about kids' involve­ment
with drugs."
Millburn now has a very active PTA
drug awareness committee. Indicative
of their involvement in the subject is ·
the commitment that their outgoing
president, Gerri Silverman, has to it.
She is on Nancy Reagan's speakers'
bureau, speaking often and getting
very involved in the anti-drug campaign
on a state and national level.
The committee sends different litera­ture
out each year to students' parents.
They have also held programs for
teachers, for local chapters of Kiwanis
and Junior League, and for the clergy.
Pearson says this is so they can
develop a broad group of people who
can influence both adults and children
not to use drugs.
" In Millburn, I've seen kids' attitudes
change," says Pearson. "Today, stu­dents
are more concerned about
school work and the way they look. It's
reflected in the way they act, dress,
and treat you . The rebel thing-that
defiant phase-has passed."
For more information, contact:
Robert Pearson, Director
Health and Physical Education
Millburn Schools
434 Millburn Avenue
Millburn, New Jersey 07041
article and photo
by Linda Feldman
January 1988
,
i
1
Putting Lives
Back Together
W hat can drugs do to
young lives? No one
knows better than
young people who have
~---=-----=:;..__-' dropped out of school,
lost jobs, or become alienated from
family and friends because of drug
abuse.
Rehabilitation centers, like the one
featured in the following article, are
helping young men and women regain
control of their lives and replace
destructive patterns with more positive
ones. Often the process begins with
understanding why they turned to
drugs in the first place.
Starting Over
At Damon House
Damon House is a fixtu re in urban
New Brunswick, New Jersey. Formerly
an armory, its quiet gray exterior is
deceiving.
The immaculate floors, the flowers
that ring the building, the well-man­icured
patches of grass, the small
vegetable garden next to the parking
lot: These details give clues to how the
fragments of 64 lives are being pieced
back together, bit by bit.
Damon House is a residential, drug­free
therapeutic community for drug
and alcohol addiction. Of the 11
residential drug rehabilitation centers in
New Jersey, Damon House is one of
only a handful that accepts indigent
people. About 99 percent of the 64 cli ­ents-
most of whom are 18 to 35
years old-can't pay their own way.
About half of the clients come
through the court system. The other
half come on their own.
"Most of our clients come to us with
nothing," says lleen Bradley, Damon
House's executive director. "Most have
no money. Those who come from the
court system come with the shirts on
their back. They've all seen bad times,
Food and Nutrition
hard times. They are beginning to see
the damage they've done to their
lives."
At 32, Bradley has worked at Damon
House for 6 years. Petite, blond, and
very lively, she is dead serious about
her work.
. Various agencies
provide support
As Bradley explains, the program
costs about $17,000 per client per
year. Support comes from a variety of
sources, including the National Institute
for Drug Abuse, state departments of
health and welfare, and private donors.
USDA food assistance programs
also help. Most Damon House
Work is an important part of life at
Damon House, according to executive
director lleen Bradley (bottom photo).
Above, two residents work in the kitchen,
cleaning up after a meal.
13
residents are eligible for food stamps.
Under national rules governing the
Food Stamp Program, participants in
drug rehabilitation centers can be cer­tified
by local food stamp offices.
Centers then can buy food fOl' partici­pants'
meals from retailers and
wholesalers authorized to accept food
stamps.
A representative from the local food
stamp office comes to Damon House
to certify eligible participants. "Food
stamps offset much of our food costs
and make a huge difference in our
budget," says Bradley.
Because Damon House is consid­ered
a residential child care institution,
it also receives support from the
National School Lunch and School
Breakfast Programs for meals served
to residents who are under age 21 .
The facility gets $1.42 per lunch and
91 cents per breakfast as well as
USDA-donated foods.
Teaching coping
skills and sharing
While Damon House may be tech­nically
a " residential institution," it feels
more like a large family.
"We are all brothers and sisters
here," says Bradley. "We run the
house as a family runs a home. We
maintain the facility nearly completely
ourselves. We have a maintenance
crew, a laundry crew, a gardening
crew."
Teaching residents to deal with
responsibility and life's stresses is cen­tral
to Damon House's mission.
"This is a tough program," says
Bradley. "What we do here is give cli­ents
the most stressful, volatile
situations while they are safely inside
these walls. We have them find their
weaknesses here and teach them to
learn patience, sharing, how to cope. If
they can make it here, they have a
good chance of making it in the real
world.
"Much of what we do is based on
behavior modification. Clients here are
involved in their own lives and in every­one's
lives.They are involved in
decisionmaking. There is a lot of group
therapy and peer pressure."
Damon House residents progress
through several levels, each with a dif­ferent
degree of independence.
"New clients begin with an orienta­tion,"
Bradley explains. "They get to
know the stringent rules, respon­sibilities,
and expectations. Then they
start at level one and work their
way up."
14
At what's called "peer three ," clients
can go back to school. Damon House
has aGED (Graduate Equivalency
Degree) program, and clients can also
go to college or a trade school. "Peer
four" is what Bradley calls "re-entry
into the real world." For about 6 to 8
months, clients live at Damon House,
but go back out to work. If they are in
school, they must also work.
"Our staff counselors work with the
clients to find jobs," says Bradley. "Cli­ents
earn money and develop a
savings account. They have to have
enough start-up money to make it on
their own."
After "peer four, " clients have "after
care" or "pregraduation ." They live on
their own, in space approved by the
Damon House staff.
Continuing support
helps clients cope
To help clients deal with stress and
control the urge to use drugs, pre­grads
come back every week to meet
with their counselors. There are also
support groups for them as well as for
people who have completely left
Damon House.
For Damon House grads, staying
drug-free can be a lifelong challenge.
"Their biggest problem," says Bradley,
"is that they forget where they were­addicted
to some drug. Outside pres­sures
start again, people offer them
drugs. It's hard to resist."
Some succeed, and some fail, but it
is the successes that keep Bradley
going.
"Most of those who succeed, who
eventually graduate and stay straight,
are high school graduates with some
maturity. They know they can either
straighten up or keep getting high until
they die. They are the ones who under­stand
that they really will die.
"The ones who don't make it don't
realize that they are cheating them­selves.
We go on. They aren't cheating
us. It's their lives they are playing
with."
For more information contact:
Ilene Bradley
Damon House
P.O. Box 76
New Brunswick, New Jersey 08903
Telephone: (201) 828-3988
article and photos
by Linda Feldman
"I'm gonna
ma k e 1•t ••• II
Dave Bowman is one of the ones
who knows it's his own life he is play­ing
with. So is Sam Andrews. From
very different backgrounds, they
shared a common way of dealing with
life's problems-getting high.
For those of us who are trying to find
ways to help America's young people
get free of or stay away from drugs,
their stories are worth hearing. They
have a lot to say about what it's like to
be addicted, where it took them, and
how at Damon House they are turning
their lives around.
Dave Bowman is 20 years old, a
curly-headed, good-looking blond from
the suburbs in Jackson, New Jersey.
Dave writes poetry and hopes to be a
photographer. He looks like any other
20-year-old, except for the hole in his
right arm.
"I tried marijuana, to know what it
was like, when I was 14. Then I tried
cocaine, to know what it was like. But
then I was doing cocaine every day for
3 years ...
"My addiction kept me going. But
there were nights when I would cry. I
started to hate myself. For 6 months, I
tried to commit suicide, to overdose on
coke. Instead, I landed in the hospital
twice.
"My mother visited me in the hospital
and in jail. It was a terrible feeling. I got
an infection from shooting cocaine.
Mom sat in the hospital. I'll never forget
the look on her face.
"I had a real good job. I was assist­ant
manager of a furniture store,
making $400 a week. I started selling
coke. Easy money. I found I could
make $800 just in one day. So I quit
my job. I was my own best customer.
"I was dealing cocaine, but didn't
get busted for that. I had codeine,
3 ounces of marijuana, mushrooms­!
was busted for possession last Sep­tember
30. My case finally came up in
June. But I was arrested three other
times in between.
"I had to do 90 days in jail or an
inpatient facility. I spent 68 days in the
Ocean County jail. The last 22 days of
my sentence I spent here. When I
January 1988
Dave Bowman
found out I could leave after that time, I
didn't want to.
"I was here 3 or 4 weeks and saw a
change. I feel good about myself for
the first time since I was 14. I'm doing
something positive. I want to get out of
bed in the morning. I never really knew
myself before ...
"If this program weren't here to take
me, with no money, I would be out on
the streets. Or dead.
"If I had one thing to say to kids
today, I would tell them to look at the
hole in my arm. I'd say, This is a joint.
That's where a joint can lead.'
"How crazy it all seems ... "
Sam Andrews is 18 years old. He
looks innocently handsome and is a
glib speaker. He talks about doing con­structive
things with his life. Sam grew
up poor in New Brunswick, New
Jersey. This is Sam's story:
Food and Nutrition
"Everyone was on welfare where I
grew up. I grew up in a drug habitat. I
was living with my mother. I didn't
finish high school, although I went
through twelfth grade a couple of
times.
"I thought I could make a living sell­ing
drugs. I stole. Never worked. Didn't
do anything constructive.
"I started with drugs when I was 8
years old. Everyone, mostly, that I
knew was on drugs. My stepfather was
an alcoholic. He recently quit. I look at
him now as my role model.
"I drank with my cousins and uncles.
Did marijuana, acid, then cocaine.
Coke makes you think you constantly
need it. You'll go to any extreme to get
it. You'll hurt lots of people just to get
high. And eventually end up in jail. Or
dead. I got tired of it, so I came in (to
Damon House) with my mom for an
interview.
"I have to start my life over from
scratch. When I first came here off the
street, I learned to get a handle on
issues we had to face on the street.
That was peer one.
"Now I'm in peer two. I'm learning
control, patience, tolerance. I never
used to have any. Here you get pres­sured,
have to put pressure on others.
"I used to be afraid of how others
saw me. I used to put up a facade,
project an image. I didn't want people
to know me.
"I used to take drugs after a pres­sure
situation. I'd have a fight with
someone and feel like I had to get high
to deal with the situation better. I was
only running away.
"liere I'm learning to communicate
and not hold everything in. 'Relate,
relate, relate.'
"I'm gonna make it."
15
Helping Mothers
Protect Their Babies
r==--....o--=""' omen who drink alco­hol,
use drugs, or
smoke cigarettes dur­ing
pregnancy can
.._~---=;...___, harm their babies as
well as themselves. That's a message
WIC staff in many areas are giving to
the pregnant women and new mothers
in their care.
WIC, also known as the Special
Supplemental Food Program for
Women, Infants, and Children, is oper­ated
by state and local health agencies
in cooperation with USDA. In the fol­lowing
articles, we look at how three
local agencies-in Puerto Rico, Califor­nia,
and Washington State-are
helping mothers become more aware
of how what they do affects their
babies' health.
Puerto Rico WIC
Participants Say
''No A Las Drogas"
Several years ago, Lydia Figueroa,
of Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico, did not
think that drinking during the preg­nancy
of her firstborn was harmful. "He
is a very hyperactive boy," she says of
her now 9-year-old son. "I can see the
effects of what I did then."
Ms. Figueroa is pregnant again. This
time, there is no drinking, no smoking,
and definitely, no drugs.
"I will make sure my new baby is
healthy," she says.
The expectant mother is enrolled in
Puerto Rico's Special Supplemental
Food Program for Women, Infants, and
Children (WIC). And it was at WIC
clinic counseling sessions that she was
told of the harmful effects of drinking
alcohol or taking drugs during preg­nancy.
Mothers listen as a WIC nutritionist ex­plains
the dangers of using drugs during
pregnancy.
16
A priority
for some time
Maria de los Angeles Diaz, deputy
director of the Puerto Health Depart­ment's
WIC program, says her
agency's efforts against drug abuse go
back several years.
In 1983, WIC clinics from the island's
western region reported an increase in
the number of pregnant women who
were using alcohol and drugs. Local
WIC staff sought assistance from the
state agency headquarters. The
request brought action.
The health department moved to
address the problem of care for the
substance user and prevention through
education for all pregnant women in
the program.
The first step, Diaz says, was to
define as "at nutritional risk" anyone
with a history of substance abuse.
Another step was setting up a strong
network of referrals for drug users.
The WIC agency holds monthly
meetings with the Commonwealth's
Departmento de Servicios Contra La
Adiccion (DSCA), where staff go over
new case records for potential partici­pants
at each agency.
Casa Reeducacion Ex Adictos
(CREA), a private drug rehabilitation
organization, also works closely with
WIC. CREA began in Puerto Rico and
now has centers throughout the Carib­bean
and Central America.
January 1988
'They let us know who in their half­way
houses could be a participant in
WIG," says WIG director William Tor­ruella.
"Many of the women qualify."
Staff are taught
counseling techniques
Close ties with DSCA resulted in
training sessions where WIG nutrition­ists
and clinic nurses are taught
counseling techniques in drug abuse
prevention. The health department and
DSCA have collaborated to produce a
number of training aids, both print and
audiovisual, to get across the anti-drug
message.
The materials run the emotional
gamut from the gentle pleading of an
unborn child in a letter to his mother to
the stark visual effects of the film,
"Botn Drunk," that shows the distorted
features of children with fetal alcohol
syndrome.
"We try to relate the bad effects of
substance abuse in all of our educa­tional
sessions," Diaz says. "We have
material that shows these dangers
both to the pregnant women as well as
to those who are breastfeeding."
To reach women who need WIG and
other social services, Puerto Rico has
special outreach and counseling ses­Food
and Nutrition
sions which are held in housing
projects throughout the island. During
the sessions, WIG nutritionists not only
explain the availability of WIG and the
need for good nutrition during preg­nancy,
but also the dangers of drugs
and alcohol.
"The hardest part is to gain the con­fidence
of the mother," says Maria
Negron, a WIG nutritionist at the Ponce
Diagnostic Center, who visits nearby
housing projects. "Once the young
woman understands the counseling is
confidential and we will not tell the
police, we have won the biggest part of
the battle.
"We have to treat her delicately,"
she adds. "The realities of what drugs
can do to her baby can be very fright­ening
to a young girl."
In treating pregnant drug users, WIG
nutritionists work as part of a team with
doctors, nurses, and social workers.
Negron says her main concern is
rebuilding the mother's health and
strength through nutritious foods.
"Most drugs users are underweight
when they come to us," she says. "My
part of the team effort is prescribing a
proper diet for them."
Travelers on Puerto Rico's busy Las
Americas Expressway can't help but no­tice
this 30-foot sign, put there by the
Departmento de Servicios Contra La Ad­iccion
(DSCA).
Efforts reinforce
positive choices
Puerto Rico's treatment and preven­tion
programs are helping women who
have drug-related problems and
encouraging women who are problem­free
to stay that way.
"This is my first child ," says WIG
participant Pamela Martinez during a
visit to the WIG clinic in Trujillo Alto. "I
have never used any type of drugs,
alcohol, or cigarettes. The information I
have gotten here confirms that my life­style
is best for me and my baby.
That is a good feeling."
For more information contact:
Maria de los Angeles Diaz
WIG Program
Puerto Rico Department of Health
P.O. Box 25220
Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico 00928
article and photos
by Joe Dunphy
WIC Agencies
Team Up To Help
Moms Stop Smoking
According to the U.S. Public Health
Service, pregnant women who smoke
cigarettes are more likely than non­smokers
to deliver babies who are
born prematurely, are small or under­developed,
have respiratory and
cardiovascular problems, or die within
the first year of life.
"Tragically," says James Swomley,
managing director of the American
Lung Association, "many women do
not understand the serious health haz­ard
of smoking while pregnant."
To raise awareness of the dangers
of smoking during pregnancy, the
American Lung Association initiated a
two-step campaign to encourage preg­nant
women to quit. In a number of
areas, WIG nutritionists are using
materials from the campaign to help
WIG pa~icipants stop smoking and
increase their chances of having
healthy babies.
17
...
UR NON-SMOKING
CALL YO p
FRIEND FOR HEL
IN STAYING OFF
CIGARETTES.
These are just some of
the materials the
Los Angeles REI WIC
staff and the American
Lung Association have
developed to help
mothers stop smoking.
Variety of helpful
materials produced
The first phase of the American Lung
Association campaign was targeted to
doctors and health professionals. In
1982, the Association developed and
distributed 40,000 copies of a smoking
and pregnancy kit that included infor­mation
on the dangers of smoking and
a specific intervention program and
materials to use with patients.
Last June, the Association launched
the second part of the campaign with a
"Freedom from Smoking for You and
Your Baby" program. It includes a
manual, an audio tape emphasizing
the importance of exercise and relaxa­tion
in quitting smoking, and a poster
featuring Joan London of Good Morn­ing
America, the national spokes­person
for the campaign.
The program helps pregnant women
quit smoking in 10 days. "Time is crit­ical
for a pregnant woman," says
Margo Harris of the Washington State
18
American Lung Association. "The
sooner a women can stop smoking, the
less chance there is that smoking will
affect her baby."
WIC staff help
mothers quit
WIC staff in Tacoma, Washington,
are using the American Lung Associa­tion
program to help pregnant women
stop smoking early. From the start,
they've worked closely with their local
Lung Association chapter.
As Gayle Brandt, staff nutritionist for
the Pierce County Health Department,
explains, the staff had been interested
in offering a stop smoking program tor
WIC and other health program partici­pants
for several years.
Together with the American Lung
Association, Brandt tested the accept­ability
of the manual with 14 WIC
participants who volunteered to help
evaluate it. All said it would be helpful
to them when they felt ready to quit
smoking.
"Getting ready is the hard part,"
says Brandt. Over 50 percent of the
women coming into the Pierce County
WIC program smoke. The American
Lung Association estimates that
nationally 32 percent of pregnant
women, or more than 1 million people,
are smoking at the beginning of preg­nancy
despite the Surgeon General's
warning appearing on cigarette packs.
To be more effective in motivating,
counseling, and providing support to
women, the WIC staff took part in spe­cial
training provided by the Lung
Association in November.
Similar activities
in Los Angeles
The WIC program at the Research
and Education Institute (REI) at Har­bor-
UCLA Medical Center is one of two
in Los Angeles County that have
January 1 988
worked with the local chapter of the
American Lung Association and the
Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies
Coalition to develop a stop smoking
program.
The multi-faceted program uses
audio-visuals and brochures relying
more on pictures than written informa­tion
to help pregnant women quit
smoking.
WIC participants receive a series of
materials when they come in for their
appointments. The first is a multi-page
four-color booklet. Later, they take
home a pocket reminder and several
postcards with messages; a baby bib
which says "My mommy quit smoking
cuz she loves me" or "My mommy
keeps smoke away from me cuz she
loves me", and a certificate of congrat­ulations
when their children are born.
Participants also see two 8-minute
slide-tape shows. Considerable plan­ning
and pretesting went into develop­ing
the materials. As in Tacoma, the
staff were specially trained on how to
counsel participants who smoke.
"Our main goal," says Shelley Marks,
deputy project director for the district,
"is to empower the women so they feel
they can quit. We want them to feel
they are in control of their health and
their lives."
Funding for the project comes from
the local American Lung Association,
the United Way, and the UCLA­Jonsson
Comprehensive Cancer Cen­ter.
Future plans may include printing
the booklets in Spanish.
For additional
information
For more information or to obtain
materials available from the American
Lung Association, contact one of the
Association's 136 chapters or branch
offices. Posters are free. A charge of
$5.00 for each manual and each tape
may be required (costs vary from chap­ter
to chapter).
For more information on the mate­rials
developed in Los Angeles,
contact:
Shelley Marks, Deputy Director
REI WIC Program
2930 W. Imperial Highway, Suite 622
Inglewood, California 90303
Telephone: (213) 757-7244
article by Dee Amaden
photos and illustrations from
the March of Dimes, the American
Lung Association, and REI
WIG Program
Food and Nutrition
Materials Available From
The March Of Dimes
The March of Dimes, a nonprofit
organization whose goal is the preven­tion
of birth defects, produces a
number of materials which can be used
in WIC clinics, schools, and food stamp
offices to educate clients about the
dangers of using drugs, alcohol, or
tobacco during pregnancy.
This past November, the March of
Dimes launched a new educational
campaign focusing on substance
abuse by pregnant women. Called
"Mommy ... Don't", the campaign fea­tures
posters and brochures explaining
the dangers of taking drugs, smoking,
or using alcohol while pregnant, as well
as the need for prenatal care.
A number of the materials available
are listed below. A catalog of materials
is also available from the March of
Dimes. Some materials are free; other
items may be purchased. Films,
videos, and slide shows may be avail­able
for loan from your local March of
Dimes chapter.
Will My Drinking
Hurt
My Baby?
March of Dimes
Birth Defects Foundation
There are 138 chapters of the March
of Dimes nationwide. To locate your
nearest chapter, check under the white
pages of your phone book under the
March of Dimes. Or, contact the March
of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation,
1275 Mamaroneck Avenue, White
Plains, New York 10605, telephone
(914) 428-7100.
Some of the materials available
include:
Films (16 mm film and 3/4" or 1/2"
video available)
• Alcohol: Crisis for the Unborn
explores the hazards of alcohol con­sumption
during pregnancy and
the effects on parent and child
(16 minutes).
• Born Hooked stresses the impor­tance
of prenatal care for mothers
addicted to heroine or methadone
(13 minutes).
Film Strips or Slides
• The One of Us looks at environmen­tal
hazards to the fetus, including
drugs, smoking, alcohol, and environ­mental
chemicals. There are two parts,
19 and 13 minutes each.
Pamphlets, Posters, Buttons
• D*A*T*A: Drugs, Alcohol, and
Tobacco Abuse During Pregnancy
(Pamphlet)
• Will My Drinking Hurt My Baby?
(Pamphlet, available in Spanish as well
as English.)
• Babies Don't Thrive in Smoke­Filled
Wombs (Pamphlet and button)
• Think Twice! A Pregnant Woman
Cannot Drink Alone (Poster)
• Two On A Match Is Bad Luck For
You And Your Unborn Baby (Poster)
...
• Double Take! When You Take A
Drug, Your Unborn Baby Does Too
(Poster)
19
Kids Reach Kids
R eaching kids through kids
is the idea behind many
successful educational
activities. Here are two
...__ _ __. examples-the first, a
state-sponsored conference aimed at
building teen leaders; the second, a
poster contest for children sponsored
by the. Food and Nutrition Service's
Midwest region.
Building Teen
Leaders Is Goal
Of Virginia
Conference
It's costly in terms of school days
lost and the toll it takes on grades. And
when the push comes, substance
abuse can take a life.
People at the Virginia Department of
Education think it's important for school
staff and students to work together on
preventing losses caused by sub­stance
abuse.
To help them do this, the Depart­ment
sponsors what's called the Youth
Alcohol and Other Drug Prevention
Project (YADAPP) Conference. Held
each of the past three summers, the
conference brings together as many as
400 school personnel and students to
focus on prevention strategies.
"Every high school in Virginia can
nominate two students and one adult
to attend the 21/2-day conference,"
says YADAPP director Marla Coleman.
"We train representatives from 60 to
70 percent of the high schools in the
state."
The highly popular "wellness" con­ference,
which includes a workshop
funded by the U.S. Department of Agri­culture's
Nutrition Education and
Training (NET) Program, seeks to raise
participants' awareness of substance
abuse and help them develop leader­ship
skills they can use in organizing or
expanding drug prevention efforts.
Developing teen
leaders a goal
Developing a student-based drug
prevention organization requires teens
20
Virginia's YADAPP conference brings
together high school students from
throughout the state. These photos from
who can form , manage, and promote
peer groups. At this year's YADAPP
conference, a presentation on asser­tive
leadership, called "Organizing for
Success," began the round of work­shops
for teens.
"The workshop identified the charac­teristics
of good and poor leadership
and the importance of distributing
responsibility, which emotionally bonds
others to the project," Coleman
explains. "Young people don't neces­sarily
have a feel for this."
Using worksheets, students identi­fied
a problem and worked together to
reach a solution. They learned about
support systems, organizational struc­tures,
and resources.
"Substance abuse prevention is a
day-in, day-out effort," Mary Crozier of
the Williamsburg Community Services
Board told the teens. "Working
together is the way to impact on peer
pressure."
So that students would know they're
not alone, Delores Delaney of the
National Federation of Parents for
Drug-Free Youth delivered a speech
last year's conference show students at
the general session and filling out evalu­ation
forms.
on the national youth movement to
fight drug abuse.
"The kids were very excited to hear
that even in their own state, there are
others who are into drug prevention
activities," Delaney says. "This is
extremely important because it helps
them feel good about themselves and
what they're doing."
Teaching kids to
choose good health
Health care professionals agree that
self-esteem is vital to resisting drugs
and alcohol.
" It doesn't matter if you know every­thing
there is to know about saying 'no'
to drugs and alcohol," says Hope
Seward of the Virginia Department of
Mental Health, Mental Retardation, and
Substance Abuse.
" If you don't feel good about your­self,
if you can't be assertive, if your
communication skills are poor, when
the time comes, you 're not going to be
able to say 'no."'
At a workshop for teachers, Seward
provided information about locating
January 1988
speakers, written materials, and funds
for drug prevention activities.
As Seward and other speakers
stressed, choosing to have a healthy
lifestyle means having no time or need
for drugs and alcohol.
A workshop called "Running for
Wellness" focused on strategies to get
students up and moving toward a " nat­ural
high" on life.
The nutrition and fitness session,
sponsored by the Virginia Nutrition
Education and Training Program, chal­lenged
educators to analyze their own
lifestyles through self-check lists on
diet, sleep habits, and other areas that
affect physical fitness.
Jane Buch, teacher, author, mar­athon
runner, and cross-country coach,
also gave the teachers ideas for physi­cal
fitness and nutrition-related
activities to use with youth groups.
Participants drew
up action plans
The YADAPP conference requires
something in return from the teachers
and students who attend.
"After our training, the teams of par­ticipants
draw up drug prevention
action plans which list the tasks and
implementation dates to accomplish
their goals," says Coleman.
In plans developed following this
year's conference, students and
teachers pledged to organize "peer
pressure resistance groups," have
alcohol- and drug-free recreational
Food and Nutrition
events; sponsor drunk driving aware­ness
week activities; and develop ways
to increase community support.
Word of YADAPP's success has
resulted in plans for similar con­ferences
in other states. And, locally,
the Norfolk City (Virginia) School Dis­trict
will conduct a spin-off conference
for 20 of its students.
Results are worth
the effort ...
At last year's conference, Amherst
(Virginia) High School received one of
three Reader's Digest national scholar­ship
awards for having an outstanding
Students Against Drunk Driving
(SADD) chapter.
"Thanks to conferences like this one,
my high school 's Students Against
Drunk Driving is extremely successful,"
Joanne Cohan, past president of the
Amherst chapter, told conference
participants.
"It shows that we are training kids to
do things for themselves and for their
classmates," one conferee said. "The
theory works-kids reach kids."
For more information, contact:
Marla M. Coleman, YADAPP Director
Virginia Department of Education
P.O. Box 60
Richmond, Virginia 23216-2060
Telephone: (804) 225-2733
article by Marian Wig
photos courtesy of the Virginia
Department of Education
Children Say
YES To Nutrition
And NO To Drugs
"Social pressure can be unbearable
for children. It takes courage to say no
to drugs," says Tom Pate, regional
deputy administrator for the Food and
Nutrition Service's Midwest Regional
Office (MWRO).
Last May, MWRO's child nutrition
staff used the slogan, "Say YES to
Nutrition: Say NO to Drugs" in spon­soring
a poster design contest at one
Midwest school.
The school was Martin Luther King
Laboratory School in Evanston, Illinois,
and the school's art instr~ctor , Janet
Fabie, was enthusiastic about the
project.
" It's important for young people to be
aware of drugs and what acceptable
alternatives there may be," she says.
"Developing the poster gave the stu­dents
time to think, interpret, portray,
and respond to the message in art."
Many classes
designed posters
Fabie's fifth through eighth grade
students took part in the contest. Each
student, using three primary colors,
designed one or more 81/2- by 11-inch
posters. Students were encouraged to
I SAY
ft
~~rR ~· r ~ o~~
SAY
This poster by Evanston, Illinois, eighth
grader John Liss was the winner in a
poster contest sponsored by the Food
and Nutrition Service's Midwest Regional
Office in Chicago.
21
incorporate the slogan into the poster.
"The students had many interpreta­tions
of the theme," says Fabie. " It
depended on the lifestyle they were
most familiar with."
Fabie and her staff picked the 20
best posters ,pnd submitted them to a
panel of MWRO judges. The poster
done by eighth grader John Liss was
the winner.
The poster had bold letters in black,
red, and yellow, with the word " Nutri­tion"
playfully spelled out in letters
made with bananas. Two hands-one
with thumbs up for nutrition, the other
thumbs down for drugs-had the
words "YES" and "NO" on them. At
the bottom, the word "DRUGS" was in
bold, red, broken letters, symbolizing
the ways drugs can destroy lives.
"Good nutrition reminds me of
healthy foods," says Liss. "That made
me th ink of using the bananas as part
of the letters. Drugs break things up,
so I broke up the lettering. Thumbs up,
thumbs down, showed what is accept­able
and what is not."
A good message
for kids to hear
The MWRO staff presented Liss with
a certificate of appreciation and a
framed copy of his poster. A framed
copy of the poster was also presented
to the school.
So that more children could see the
poster, the regional office printed 1 ,600
· copies and distributed them to organi­zations
and agencies sponsoring the
Summer Food Service Program in
Michigan.
" In Michigan, we administer the
summer program ourselves, which is
unusual, so it was a natural choice for
distributing the posters," says Dick
Gilbert, MWRO section coordinator for
the Child Care and Summer Food
Service Programs and a poster contest
judge.
"Teaching drug awareness at an
early age is essential," he adds, "and
we'd very much like to see state and
local agencies come up with their own
ideas for reaching kids with the 'say no'
message."
For more information, contact:
Russell V. Circo
Regional Director of Child Nutrition
Programs
Midwest Regional Office, FNS, USDA
50 East Washington
Chicago, Illinois 60602
Telephone: (312) 353-6673
article by Lawrence Rudman
22
Working
ForA
Better Future
C ultural pride and aware­ness
are central to drug
prevention efforts for the
Penobscot Indian Nation.
___ ___, The Nation's carefully
coordinated anti-drug campaign is an
example of how communities are tailor­ing
solutions to local needs and giving
children creative alternatives to using
drugs.
Penobscot Indians
Focus On Cultural
Pride And Awareness
A narrow one-lane steel and con­crete
bridge, 20 minutes north of
Bangor, Maine, ties Indian Island Res­ervation
to the mainland.
A pair of traffic lights hanging in the
bridge's girders forces traffic to take
turns entering and exiting the
Penobscot Nation. Next to the old con­stricting
bridge, a new bridge, wide
enough for two lanes of traffic, is taking
shape and will soon allow a freer flow
of traffic over the Penobscot River.
Spokesgroup, a community group
organized last year by the Penobscot
Nation, is also building new bridges­"
bridges over walls of alcohol and drug
abuse," according to George Mitchell,
WIC director for the Indian nation.
"Some people here try to say we
don't have a problem," says Mitchell,
"but when you see school kids sitting
on the side of the road, not even
seeing the cars going by, you know we
have a problem."
Community leaders
asked to help
Five hundred and fifty Penobscots
live on the Indian Island Reservation
along with 96 non-Penobscot spouses
and dependents. While alcoholism has
historically been a problem, drug
abuse is relatively new.
"Drugs arrived in the 1970's when
members of the tribe came back from
metropolitan areas as a result of settle­ment
of land claim," says Mitchell.
Land claim is the name given to the
multimillion-dollar treaty settlement
between the state of Maine and its
native inhabitants.
Spokesgroup was organized about a
year ago as a result of community con­cerns
over substance abuse and the
associated deaths and suicides,
Ssipsis, the Penobscot Nation's direc­tor
of human services, explains. Her
one-word name, which usually begins
with a lower case letter, is Penobscot
for " little bird."
"Fifty people from the community,
leaders and elders, were asked to fig­ure
out ways to help/' she says. "They
were organized into a team shaped like
a wheel with spokes radiating into dif­ferent
areas of the tribe.
"Spokesgroup's goal is to provide
positive options to energize the spirit of
the community. It covers all aspects of
tribal life from education to interaction
between community agencies."
WIC program
plays key role
The Penobscot Nation's WIC pro­gram
is one of the spokes in
Spokesgroup. Reading materials which
spread the anti-drug message are
included with monthly WIC vouchers.
In addition, screening for drug and
alcohol problems is performed at each
recertification. Program participants
are asked if they have problems in
these areas and if so, referrals for help
are arranged. "When we first started
January 1988
A mural on the wall
of the Penobscot
WIC office celebrates
cultural awareness.
The full quotation
over the mural states,
"The strength of our
children depends on
the strength of their
parents."
this screening process, we were sur­prised
at the honesty of our partic­ipants,"
says program director Mitchell.
To make the screening a more
active process, WIC nutritionist Natalie
Michelle provides a priority checklist for
substance abuse staff to identify symp­toms
of nutrition-related problems
associated with substance abuse. Par­ticipants
found to have these
symptoms are referred for help.
"Often a diet history, along with a
24-hour intake, will indicate measures
needed for recovery and prevention of
the dependency," says Michelle.
"One by one, we deal with the com­plications
resulting from substance
abuse. Nutrition counseling and follow­up
activities are an important part of
the process, and the original screening
document becomes a permanent part
of the written patient history."
Michelle admits progress is slow.
"The results may not become apparent
until we see today's children reach
adult age," she says.
"We may only be taking baby steps
now," Ssipsis adds, "but it's steady
onward progress."
Food and Nutrition
School programs
are also important
Another important spoke is the res­ervation's
school cultural awareness
program. Barry Dana, the classroom
instructor, operates a number of pro­grams
both in and out of school to
"promote a positive approach to iden­tity
as a Penobscot Indian."
Dana's class provides the Penobscot
children with lessons in traditional
Indian skills, such as basketmaking,
canoe building, snowshoe making,
leather tanning, tracking, and working
with birch bark. His classroom is filled
with the products of these lessons.
The children are enthusiastic about
the class. "They get so involved in the
lessons," says Dana, "the lowest
grade I've given out is a B. I've found
that I can't be sick-the kids get upset
if I miss a day of class."
Part of the curriculum includes a
native language class. Ten minutes of
each school day is spent listening to
tapes of a tribe member speaking
Penobscot. Lessons are derived from
the materialon these tapes and,
slowly, a nearly forgotten language is
returning to the people.
Children learn to
"get high on nature"
Dana carries his cultural theme over
to his extracurricular activities. He runs
a series of 3-day canoeing and camp­ing
trips in the summer aimed at
promoting cultural awareness and
fighting substance abuse.
These trips, tied closely to the wil­derness
experience, are designed to
provide a positive, off-reservation
experience that is confidence building.
By taking the children off the reserva­tion,
the source of drugs and alcohol is
removed, at least temporarily.
"I try to tune the kids into nature by
observing and being a part of it. It's my
hope they'll learn to get high on nature
instead of drugs," says Dana.
Perhaps the most dramatic of
Dana's activities is the 1 00-mile Mount
Katahdin Run. Katahdin, at 5,267 feet,
is Maine's highest peak and a Pen­obscot
holy place. "It's our Vatican,"
says Mitchell.
The grueling foot race to the base of
Mount Katadhin is culminated with a
traditional Penobscot sweet grass
burning ceremony and hulled corn
soup, a traditional Penobscot food.
"We added a new ceremony this year,
the tee-shirt-giving ceremony," Mitchell
jests. "Everyone who participates in
the race receives a tee shirt."
Ssipsis explains that these programs
promote the anti-drug and anti-alcohol
message through what she calls the
"enabling concept." "They provide
positive options to enable children to
be healthy. These programs help main­tain
sobriety, provide healthy off­reservation
experiences, and provide
positive role models."
Are the programs making a dif­ference?
Betty McCue-Herlihy, the
Penobscot Nation's clinical supervisor
for substance abuse, feels they are.
"We're looking for little things to
mark our progress at this point," she
says, "and from what we can see,
we're beginning to make inroads into
substance abuse. People are becom­ing
more aware of the problem.
"Spokesgroup seems to work," she
adds, "because it comes from the com­munity,
not the outside."
For more information, contact:
George Mitchell, WIC Director
Penobscot Indian Nation
5 River Roat:l
Old Town, Maine 04468
Telephone: (207) 827-7776
article and photo
by Lonnie Pidel
23
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Food and Nutrition Service
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