CLUB SPONSOR … Jack Brace of the Bryan Area Foundation poses with Caleb Stiltner a FCCC student from Bryan and DFCA member. The Foundation is a sponsor of the Drug Free Club at Four County.
(Story originally appeared November 21st, 2018)
By: James Pruitt
A new program which seeks to reward the majority of students who don’t do drugs had its first prize day at the Four County Career Center, Nov. 16. The club is part of a national effort to focus on the 80 percent of students who don’t do drugs.
It’s a reaction to schools and local governments spending the bulk of their resources on the 20 percent of students who get into narcotics. Drug Free Clubs of America began in a Cincinnati firehouse where a team of firefighters DFCA in 2005 responded to the drug-related tragedies they witnessed every day, the organization’s website stated.
The firefighters were regularly called on to rescue people whose lives had been devastated by overdoses, violence, accidents, or even death. To them there was nothing more difficult than being called to a scene resulting in the loss of a young life. This was especially true when it was caused by something as avoidable as drug abuse.
It stung even more to know that every single one of those teens were drug-free at one point, the web site stated. To counter the impact of drugs on their neighborhoods, the firefighters knew something had to be done. Something so tempting and rewarding to teens that it would be stronger than the temptation of experimenting with drugs.
Something that could somehow be present in the very moment a teen is choosing to do drugs or turn and walk away. Something that makes the right choice easy because saying “no” has proven to be too hard for too many. That “SOMETHING” is Drug Free Clubs of America.
Today, teens in Drug Free Clubs of America are rewarded for choosing to remain drug free. They have the ability to say “I CAN’T. I MIGHT BE TESTED.” This offers an easy way out of a tough situation, and parents know their children have powerful protection from drug abuse in the moment it counts the most.
At the event at FCCC, students picked up identification cards and were able to stop at various stations and secure prizes from McDonalds and Dunhams. There are 13 companies from across the four-county area who are serving as sponsors. One group is the Bryan Area Foundation who donated money to cover the cost of club memberships.
Students are required to pay $10 out of their pockets, but the sponsors pick up the remaining $57. “We recognized the need and we’re happy to participate,” BAF representative Jack Brace said. FCCC is the only school in the area to participate in DFCA, Ellie Cichocki, Job Placement/Workforce Development Coordinator, said.
Since the school serves as a training center for teens to join the adult workforce, it is imperative they produce workers that can pass a drug screen, she said. So far 125 students have registered and completed testing by the DFCA. Cichoki said. The students have to show their ID to get the prizes. Each student who signs up is drug tested.
The results are only shared with the parents and the student. The process gives the students an out if they are ever tempted with drugs by saying “I can’t I might be tested.” The emphasis is on positive reinforcement through the club. If for some reason a student fails a drug screen, the organization reaches to the families to see if the student is on a prescription.
If the case is more serious DFCA reaches out to the parents who are told about the resources available in northwest Ohio, but FCCC is not notified. “We don’t know,” Cichoki said about kids who test positive for drugs. “There is no penalty at this school. It makes all the difference; we are not drug counselors.”