Shorecrest Site Council’s

Proposal:

Engage in a conversation with

students regarding the use of

drugs/alcohol.

We started this year asking what was important to

you…

Technology

AP class requirements

Pushing the “middle” students

Healthy school

breakfast/lunchVisions for the new SC

building

The culture of drugs and alcohol at Shorecrest

Some comments I received:

• “I feel this is becoming worse all the time.  What can we do?”

• “I worry that it is a much bigger issue than anyone wants to know/believe”

• “We are losing kids throughout the day!”• “The percentage of kids who students say use drugs

is alarming!”

Staff feedback from Jen Yost’s presentation:

• Lots of responses regarding discomfort with the possibility of being wrong when referring students and the fear of compromising the relationship with a student.

The BIG reason:

The reason Site Council has chosen the issue of drug and alcohol use among students at Shorecrest as a focus is primarily because student health and well-being is directly linked to student learning.

Site Council’s Focus Question:

What does Site Council recommend regarding what could be done to help staff feel more comfortable engaging in productive conversations with students regarding the use of drugs and alcohol?

The recommendation:

• Give staff a structured forum in which they can engage students in a small group discussion around drug and alcohol use with real data (Healthy Youth Survey results).

Who/What?

• Staff would participate in a training around the Healthy Youth Survey data itself and around facilitating a discussion that students may be resistant to.

Who/What?• In the fall, in homerooms, staff would facilitate a small group

discussion including:A reminder of what the Healthy Youth Survey is and

who took the surveyInstruction on how to read and interpret the results of

the surveyHow our results look by grade level and compared to

the stateWhether or not students believe the resultsPatterns that emerge from the survey dataIdentifying some of the top problem areas and

brainstorm how they could be made betterIdentifying how students would prioritize the changes

in the problem areas that emerge

Ex) Substance Use in Grade 10

QuickTime™ and a decompressor

are needed to see this picture.

Ex) Substance Use in Grade 12

QuickTime™ and a decompressor

are needed to see this picture.

What is the goal?

• To use data to promote dialogue that supports personalization and engagement between students and all staff around the topic of drugs and alcohol use among Shorecrest students.

• To allow students to clearly see what issues emerge from the Healthy Youth Survey data.

• To generate student ideas and report back to the school.

Why should this be facilitated by staff?

• Engaging in this discussion with students shows that staff is willing to recognize the issue of drug and alcohol use and be a part of the ongoing commitment towards reducing use.

• To promote comfort engaging in productive and meaningful conversations around the topic of drugs and alcohol with students.

The ongoing commitment…

• Site Council recognizes that this is simply a starting block and that to make a true impact the discussion needs to be continued throughout the school year. The hope is to continue to work with the Drug and Alcohol Task Force in continuing this type of discussion between staff and students.