CENTRALIA RESIDENTS DISCUSS YOUTH DRUG PROBLEMS DURING TOWN HALL MEETING

Citizens of Centralia got a chance to address some of their concerns about
their community on Wednesday night. A Town Hall meeting was held at
Centralia High School to address the problems of drugs in the community,
especially pertaining to kids.

Local experts spoke at the meeting and addressed questions from the
community. Jill Angel, freshman health teacher, Tom Fair, the school
resource officer, Pete Schmersal, the drug court coordinator, and Kevin
McBee, a recovering alcoholic and drug addict attended to weigh in on the
issues.

"Illegal drugs affect our entire community, and it's not an issue of good
kids versus bad kids. It's about good kids making bad choices, and no one
is immune to that," said Ginny Zoellers, executive director of the
Centralia Chamber of Commerce, which helped organize the event.

Angel spoke about the health classes she teaches and the work she does to
help prevent drug use by her students. The students complete projects about
the dangers of drugs and hear speakers who help them understand the issue.

"My job as an educator, I feel like, is to make the kids aware. It is
something that we talk about in a very comfortable atmosphere," explained
Angel who said her curriculum begins with a discussion about alcohol and
then progresses to other drugs. "Alcohol is a gateway drug. These kids that
are doing drugs don't typically start with crack cocaine. They start it
with alcohol."

The next speaker on the panel was Fair, who explained he prefers his job to
be about helping rather than enforcing. He said he prefers to hear about a
problem before it gets into a law enforcement situation. "My job here is
not to drop the hammer. My job is to be here to help," he said.

Fair also talked about the programs he works with in the school. This year,
he will be teaching a program called G.R.E.A.T, instead of D.A.R.E. It
stands for gang resistance education and training. The research based
program focuses on life skills and begins in the sixth grade. "If we can
understand those life skills, it will make it easier to make good
decisions, make great decisions," he said.

Schmersal took time during the evening to talk about another outlook on
prevention. Since he works in the juvenile justice system, he has seen
first-hand the effects of drugs and the problems they cause. He explained
that drug court is an "alternative sentencing program" that features at
least one year of intensive treatment. "We are rethinking how we deal with
this," he said.

Schmersal advocated for parental involvement including drug testing. "Test
them. That is the only way to know for sure," said Schmersal, who said
everyone in the community needs to be involved in the problem. "Do
something. Be reactive, be proactive, be something, just don't be silent."

The final speaker for the night was McBee, who began abusing drugs and
alcohol in high school. He spoke about his experiences as an addict and his
recovery through Alcoholics Anonymous, which has helped to keep him sober
during the past seven years.

"I believe in education of drug and alcohol abuse, but I think we've got to
get it at a young age," said McBee, who has spoken to health classes
throughout the area about his situation. "I wish I had the magic answer.
Unfortunately, it's hard work. That's what it takes."

An overall theme for the night was the importance of working together as a
community in order to combat the problem of drugs. "The problems go beyond
what parents, law enforcement, and the school can handle on their own,"
said Zoellers. "But, if we work together, we can find ways to prevent drug
use and provide resources for intervention that can help our kids be
successful."