Newton County's first youth coalitions are forming under the Partners In Prevention (PIP) Drug Free Communities program.
Several members of the PIP Committee attended the regular monthly meeting Tuesday morning, June 10, at the Newton County Library to hear the May report from program director Bailey Taylor. Taylor announced two youth coalitions have formed at the Jasper School campus. An elementary school coalition of 5th and 6th graders was the first to gather and elected to name itself GLOW (Goals, Learning, Optimism & Well-being) and it has been joined by a junior high school group naming itself CHILL (Choosing Healthy Instead of Lethal Lifestyles). Both groups focus on substance use prevention, education and positive belonging opportunities in the county.
Recent activities included "Toss Away Bad Habits," an elementary school event held last May 15. Lisa Taylor and Bailey Taylor facilitated a classroom session with the G.L.O.W. Coalition and both the 5th and 6th grade classes. Bailey Taylor created pamphlets explaining the "8 Dimensions of Wellness," which was read and discussed with an emphasis on the importance of comprehensive wellness. "Students identified which dimensions they would apply during the event, and their engagement was excellent," Bailey Taylor reported to the committee.
After the classroom session, six high school coalition members volunteered to assist younger students at Bradley Park— teaching the game of cornhole, leading basketball, wiffle ball and tennis games and promoting a substance-free lifestyle.
Supporters of the activities included The City of Jasper, Tracy Davis provided cornhole equipment; Harp’s donated water and Lisa and Bailey sponsored lunch for the older volunteers.
The activity reached 57 elementary students.
The CHILL coalition currently has 21 student members. Six youth from CHILL will attend the upcoming Next Gen Conference in Benton to receive education and training. Two youths have signed up to volunteer to paint the 5th and 6th-grade restrooms over the summer break. Four of the students will participate in the production of an alcohol prevention public service announcement as part of a media campaign. The message will be streamed or broadcast over several media platforms.
Three coalitions joined to produce opioid prevention messages earlier and released last April. According to the data captured following their release, there were: 28,648 impressions; 8,648 in reach; 3.31 frequency and a 98.80% video completion rate. The results included 9,388 impressions that came specifically from the commercial PIP sponsored.
With remaining media campaign funds, North Arkansas Partnership for Health Education (NAPHE) and PIP are planning a cost-shared alcohol prevention commercial featuring a “Heaven” theme. Four youth from Newton County and a few from Boone County will be filming at KY3 in Springfield, Missouri, on June 17.
Taylor noted she was in contact with Charity Richardson at the Newton County Sheriff’s Office concerning the recently held Drug Take Back Day where the public was urged to bring old and unwanted medicines to the sheriff's office for collection to be responsibly destroyed. Richardson reported 90 pounds of unused medications were collected.
Taylor went on to report other collected data over the past month.
• PIP’s community impact and outreach totals (Since November), 188 adults reached (face-to-face) and 656 youth reached.
