Project Tackling Alcohol Together (TAT)

 

Poway Unified School District has elected to participate in the implementation of the Grant to Reduce Alcohol Abuse in Abraxas High School, a Model Continuation School.  This initiative is funded by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools.

 

The San Diego County Office of Education applied and received this grant on behalf of seven high school districts and County Summit Schools.  The districts and sites included are:

 

                                                Grossmont - Chaparral High School

                                                Oceanside – Ocean Shores High School

                                                Poway – Abraxas High School

                                                San Marcos – Twin Oaks High School

                                                Sweetwater – Palomar High School

                                                Vista – Alta Vista High School & Vista Focus Academy

 

The Tackling Alcohol Together (TAT) Project, which was proposed in the grant application, is a multi-faceted, broadly focused prevention and intervention program designed to assist in reducing alcohol use and abuse in the continuation high school population – a population known to have the highest levels of alcohol use/abuse.  The TAT program consists of two components:  Reconnecting Youth and Teens Taking Action.

 

 

 

Reconnecting Youth (RY)

 

Reconnecting Youth is a school-based prevention program that has been implemented at Abraxas High School at the start of 2nd quarter (October 10, 2005) and will continue on through 3rd quarter.  The program consists of 10 students and is conducted by 3 counselors: Dennis Beato, School Counselor; Will Wooton, and Kiley San Martin who are both Chemical Dependency Intervention & Treatment Adolescent and Adult Counselors.  The program is designed for students enrolled in alternative education.  Reconnecting Youth includes both classroom instructional activities and intensive group work to deliver interventions that address the three central program goals:

 

·         Decreased drug involvement

·         Increased school performance

·         Decreased emotional mood swings, depression and suicide ideation

 

Students work toward these goals by participating in a 2 quarter long high school class that involves skills training in the context of a positive peer culture.  RY students learn, practice and apply self-esteem enhancement strategies, decision-making skills, personal control strategies and interpersonal communication techniques. 

 

 

 

Teens Taking Action (TTA)

 

Teens Taking Action (TTA) was developed by Stanford University as part of a two-year research study funded by the National Institute for Drug Abuse (NIDA).  Originally developed to address tobacco use, the curriculum has been modified for use in Project TAT to target alcohol use.  Teens Taking Action was designed for and tested with high school age students attending Continuation or Alternative High Schools.  The Teens Taking Action curriculum consists of 13 sessions with topics including:  Myths & Facts about Alcohol, Negative Consequences of Use, and Alcohol is Big Business, Targeted Advertising, Conducting Community Assessments on Alcohol Promotions, Taking a Stance, and Advocacy Training.

 

In addition students, receiving the Teen Taking Action curriculum, will be introduced to staff from local Community Prevention collaborative with whom they may elect to work in addressing broader community prevention issues.

 

The Teens Taking Action has been infused in Abraxas’ Physical Education class once a week, every Friday. TTA is team taught by Leigh Cole, AHS Teacher; and Dennis Beato, AHS Counselor.