ATHLETES' CARDS DENOUNCE DRUGS

Looking Up To High Schoolers

SAN DIEGO - Fourth-graders buzzed with energy as they fingered and flipped
through shiny trading cards. But they weren't trading Pokemon.

These cards bear the likenesses of local high school athletes, and the
students couldn't get enough of them. They studied the pictures, read the
descriptions on the back and waited in line to have the teen-agers sign the
cards. The Turtleback Elementary School students also noticed the message
the cards and their featured athletes delivered.

You don't need to smoke, drink or do drugs to be cool.

"It made me know when I grow up I will not drink and will not smoke," said
Roxanne Beheshti, 10.

Trading cards and talks by athletes in letter jackets represent a new
tactic to try to push kids away from drug and alcohol abuse.

Unlike programs that show scary consequences of using, this one focuses
more on role models and their positive reasons for staying clean and sober,
not the least of which is the potential to excel in sports.

Two students from each Poway Unified comprehensive high school appear on
the cards through a project run by the Boys & Girls Club of Inland North
County. Next year, the club plans to take the idea to Escondido classrooms,
too.

Athletes, cheerleaders and band musicians from Ramona, Julian and Warner
Springs schools also appear on anti-drug trading cards through a separate
drug-abuse prevention program.

The say-no-to-drugs message sounds far different coming from popular
teen-agers rather than teachers and administrators, program leaders said.

"The elementary kids think Michael Jordan showed up," said Joe Annicharico,
Ramona assistant superintendent for planning and instruction. "Principals
and teachers rave about it."

The photo cards look like baseball cards on the front. On the back, instead
of sports statistics, they list students' significant influences,
activities and an anti-drug quote.

To be chosen for the cards, the high school students must not use tobacco,
alcohol or drugs. They also agree to share their reasons for abstinence
with younger students during school assemblies and classroom presentations.

"I tried it. I made some bad decisions," Nate Weston, a senior at Rancho
Bernardo High School, told the Turtleback students. "It's wrong."

Weston, a varsity football player, said his brother's death from congestive
heart failure three years ago compelled him to change his behavior.

"I learned how precious life is," Weston said. "Don't waste your lives on
drugs and alcohol."

Join sports teams and clubs instead, Weston and his peers told the
elementary school students. High school has activities for all tastes -
chess, surfing, football, skateboarding.

"If I chose drugs or alcohol, I would not be where I am today," said
Eleanor Rollings, Rancho Bernardo High senior and champion swimmer. "Become
a part of something. That makes you feel good about yourself."

Beyond their anti-drug message, the teen-agers reassured students about
moving on to middle and high school, and urged them to do their homework.

The easygoing mentoring from students connects with kids, said Rob Damwijk,
who coordinates the program for the Boys & Girls Club of Inland North
County. Damwijk acts as emcee during the classroom presentations.

"From what I can see, this seems to really captivate their attention," he
said. "And they have something to put on their refrigerator or in their
dresser and look back on."

Printing the cards and organizing this year's school appearances cost about
$5,000, according to Boys & Girls Club leaders. The county-funded Safety
Wellness Advocacy Coalition prevention program currently covers the costs
in Poway.

The club is applying for a $5,000 county grant to pay for a program in
Escondido. The program in the Ramona, Julian and Warner Springs schools is
paid for through the North Rural Recovery Center's county-funded prevention
programs.

The Safety Wellness Advocacy Coalition has not decided whether it will
continue to fund the trading-card project in Poway, said Dana Stevens,
program coordinator for the coalition's prevention program.

The trading cards have great potential, she said, but there's no way to
tell if the program actually deters students from using illicit substances.
The coalition, which pays for several substance abuse prevention programs,
increasing looks for those that have measurable results, Stevens said.

Honing the high school students' message to focus more on the negative
effects of substance use on athletic performance may help.

"No one single activity or one single strategy is going to work (to keep
kids from using)," Stevens said. "If we can build upon the steppingstone we
have here with trading cards, we can have a more comprehensive strategy."

Though the long-term effects remain to be seen, program leaders said the
effort does work to involve youth in community service and give them a
stake in drug-abuse prevention efforts.

"Hopefully we can touch the kids," said Blair Baumann, Poway High senior.
"Hopefully we can steer some of them in the right direction."