Making a difference

Teens making a difference was the theme of Thursday’s speakers at Prescott Kiwanis. First, Pierce County Sheriff Nancy Hove gave a brief overview of the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) program as current DARE Officer Steve Albarado was unavailable. Hove was quite familiar with the subject, as she was the former DARE officer before elected sheriff in 2006. The next speaker was high school student Courtney Orpen, who talked about being a DARE role model, a new program started between Prescott High School and the sheriff’s department. Orpen is one of eight Prescott students who promote the DARE message through community events, including helping with DARE graduation. Steve Peterson, high school counselor, then concluded the speakers and talked about the wide variety of co-curricular programs at Prescott High School, which included “Teens Making a Difference,” an offshoot of DARE role models, in which high school students go into elementary and middle school classrooms to teach about bullying and substance abuse, among other topics. “Teens” is a new program, started due to a grant from the Prescott Foundation. Peterson also talked about the consequences of Prescott students getting caught drinking, as, for example, a football player would lose 30 percent of his season. “Kids that are involved are less likely to do those things because they have something to lose,” he said. Among some of the other clubs are Ecology, Disc Golf, Fishing, Pickleball tournament and Student Wellness group. Sophomore Garrett Ryan was named as the Student of the Week. -- Photo by Jason Schulte