The Safe and Drug Free Department offers a comprehensive inventory of alcohol/tobacco/ other drug prevention programs. These programs are available for teachers and students in grades K -12. As with most of the department's programs, the Education Specialist at the Intermediate Unit can tailor many of the trainings to meet the specific needs of each school. These programs are unique in that there are several approaches taken to provide prevention training. They are as follows:

• Research-Based Prevention Programs: These programs are nationally known prevention curricula with empirical evidence of prevention success. Student training may be conducted for the following programs:

  • Get Real About Tobacco - This K - 12 program allows students to examine peer behaviors to effectively reduce tobacco use, encourage tobacco cessation, and promote an anti-tobacco message.
  • Life Skills - This middle school program reviews critical components found to promote drug use. It combines a curriculum regarding the underlying causes of substance abuse with social skills role-playing to effectively arm the students with resources to remain drug-free (for non-public schools only).
  • Tar Wars - This program utilizes a community-based approach to help middle school students to remain tobacco-free. This turnkey program provides students with the tools necessary to make positive decisions regarding their health and lifestyle.

• Staff may schedule train-the-trainers sessions in the following programs:
  • Project Alert - This is a middle school video supported drug and alcohol prevention program. It motivates students against drug use by employing a variety of interactive and engaging methods.
  • Life Skills - This middle school program reviews critical components found to promote drug use. It combines a curriculum regarding the underlying causes of substance abuse with social skills role-playing to effectively arm the students with resources to remain drug-free.

• Student Peer Leadership Programs: This is a cross-age teaching program designed to keep students drug free. Prevention Specialists teach peer leaders facts, trends, and statistics about drugs and then team the leaders with younger students to teach valuable prevention lessons. The strength of this program is the supportive relationship established between the different-aged students.
• Tobacco Open House: The Prevention Specialists at the Intermediate Unit annually host an open house to showcase resources and provide technical assistance to teachers, administrators, and health educators interested in purchasing tobacco prevention materials using funds available from the Tobacco Control Project.

For more information, or to schedule an alcohol/tobacco/other drug prevention program, email mkelly@bucksiu.org.