Wakulla County Coalition for Youth:  Making a Difference

The Wakulla County Coalition for Youth (WCCY) is made up of individuals who work diligently to meet the needs of families and children living in Wakulla County.  The school system is one of many, albeit strongly represented, agencies and organizations represented on the Coalition.  School Superintendent David Miller, Assistant Superintendent of Instruction Beth O’Donnell, and Middle School Principal JoAnn Daniels are just a few of the many educators active on the coalition.  Sheriff David Harvey, Major Maurice Langston, School Resource Officer Brent Sanders, the YMCA, business leaders, Melvena Wilson, Cathy Price and others from the Health Department, Lynn Artz of the Health Care Task Force, leaders in the faith community, individuals from the private sector, provider community, and from the Departments of Juvenile Justice and Children and Families sit together monthly.  During two hours each month they applaud successes, share plans, ideas and important events,  and seek solutions to challenges and gaps in working toward the healthy development and academic achievement of Wakulla youth.

{sidebar id=1}Taken as a whole, their work has revealed a growing number of rich and varied opportunities available to Wakulla youth and their families.  Tutors, mentors, reading coaches, counselors, horseback riding, a busy skate park at the YMCA, the marine lab, community baby showers, a proposed private venture park for youth, pregnancy counseling, workshops for parents, training for much needed foster parents, scheduled immunizations, mobile healthcare, helmets and infant car seats, and the finer details of so much more comes out at monthly meetings.   The meetings are fast-paced, exciting, informative and worthy of sharing with the outside community.  Therefore, through Wakulla.com we hope to regularly share information with you.

The sharing of information and resources is only part of the coalition’s work.  The other part of its job is to know and respond to the forces that put Wakulla’s  children in harm’s way, or at risk.  The coalition’s mission statement actually reads “to empower all children, youth and families to reach their full potential.”  Armed with that mandate, in July 2007 the coalition defined the reduction of alcohol use by Wakulla youth as its strategic priority.   The coalition takes its work seriously, and the work continues.

While most of our youth do not use alcohol, tobacco, or drugs, our numbers are higher than the state average.  While drug, tobacco and even alcohol use rates have declined since 2000, alcohol remains the most resistant and troublesome.  The problem with underage drinking is not unique to our county.  It is a problem throughout our state, and nationwide, and while we may want to believe it’s a problem in somebody else’s home or community, it’s right here.   We may also want to think it is a right of passage and harmless, but the science of today paints a very different picture.  Scientific journals and newspapers throughout the country are filled with the short and long term consequences.  STOP RIGHT NOW, take up the challenge and Google any social problem --  teen pregnancy, academic failure, truancy, violence, drop-out, joblessness, suicide - in combination with the words “youth use of alcohol and drugs”  to learn for yourself what’s at stake.  The coalition is taking action..

Recognizing the abundant energy and genuine desire by youth to be involved in making a difference, the coalition has engaged the help of two youth leaders to help in the design of Wakulla’s plans to address the problem of underage drinking.  Mark Price plays high school baseball, and Amanda Council is a cheerleader.  (Both are pictured at left.)  They just happen to share a belief that you do not have to drink to have fun.  They were nominated to the Florida Youth Prevention Delegation, sponsored by the Governor’s Office of Drug Control, and have the support of Principal Crouch and the Coalition.  The mission of FYPD is to redefine the social norms among youth through the implementation of substance-free activities and community involvement.  The project will empower youth to execute creative ideas, activities and strategies to make an impact on this serious problem and to grow this initiative throughout the State of Florida.  From them we will learn how other communities are responding, and they in turn will share Wakulla’s story to their counterparts in counties throughout Florida.  Amanda and Mark are extraordinary young people with the courage and commitment needed to get the job done.

Wakulla County has lots to boast about….excellent schools, low unemployment, low crime, good median income, lots of open spaces, a rural atmosphere with strong family values, clean, peaceful and so much more.  We are truly unique, but at the same time we share the problem of underage drinking with communities everywhere.  In the days ahead, the coalition will invest whatever it takes in time and energy to develop and implement plans to change the numbers.  It’s the right thing to do.

Questions or want to become involved?

Contact:

Gail Campbell, WCCY Chair Campbell.gail@gmail.com
Judy Myhre, WCCY Coordinator, myhrej@wakulla.k12.fl.us

For more information visit www.dcf.state.fl.us/mentalhealth/publications/fysas/county06/wakulla06.pdf

or

http://fcpr.fsu.edu/redribbon/

This article originally published on September 18, 2007.

Written by :

mkwestmark

 

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