COATS: KEEPING KIDS AWAY FROM DRUGS

When Petoskey school officials focused in on substance abuse issues facing
local youth in 2002, the early discussion was marked by debate.

That year, a school board member proposed random drug testing of students
involved in extracurriculars as a way to deter substance use. When
community input was sought that fall on the idea, reaction was mixed and
sometimes emotional.

In the midst of the discussion, school board members appointed a committee
to explore issues related to youth drug use. Though the drug testing idea
was shelved indefinitely, the committee's work continues more than three
years later.

The anti-drug committee has come to be known as Community Offering
Alternatives to Substance-abuse (COATS). Since its inception, organizers
have aimed for a collaborative approach to drug concerns.

And in the eyes of two national educational organizations, they've
succeeded in finding it.

A statewide honor

In February, the Petoskey district was recognized as Michigan's statewide
winner in the National Civic Star Award competition. This program,
organized by the American Association of School Administrators and Sodexho
School Services, honors schools which have cooperated with their
communities to create innovative programs that advance learning.

"It's pretty prestigious," said Petoskey school superintendent John
Scholten. "It's a great honor to see this."

In all, 32 state-level Civic Star awards were presented around the United
States for 2006, with St. Charles Parish Schools in Louisiana receiving the
national award.

Barb Kurtz of the Petoskey Education Foundation applied for the Civic Star
recognition on COATS' behalf.

"It's very unique and has a significant outreach into the community,
involves the community at many levels," she said of COATS.

Added Petoskey school board member Tina DeMoore: "The staff, parent and
student members of COATS have done an excellent job of raising awareness
and educating the community about youth substance abuse. They have
facilitated direct services to students facing substance abuse challenges.
They have also worked to improve parent-to-parent communication. COATS
continues to provide innovative substance-free activities to middle and
high school students. Perhaps most importantly, COATS members have shared
their ideas and their vision with other Northern Michigan districts that
are struggling with the same issues in their communities. This has provided
a network of communication and information about the topic across
communities that can only serve to further raise awareness and enhance
services to youth challenged by substance abuse."

Zeroing in

Last fall, "Katherine," a high-school sophomore who requested that her real
name not be used, experienced a "bad trip" when she took LSD. Scared by the
blackout she suffered, she sought advice from Jim Rummer, Petoskey High
School's assistant principal and a facilitator for COATS.

Rummer referred her to Petoskey's Harbor Hall substance abuse treatment
organization.

Since then, Katherine - who'd also used marijuana and tried an assortment
of other drugs - has received individual counseling at Harbor Hall and
gotten involved with a weekly support group COATS offers at PHS.

"It's people my age," she said of the group. "You can trust them. They're
people to talk to that have been going through the same stuff you have."

When the support group meetings begin, Katherine said students share their
progress in avoiding substance use. She and one other group member have
made staying drug-free a competition of sorts.

Lately, the weekly meetings have been drawing about 15 students. A Harbor
Hall counselor is on hand for the meetings to answer questions and give
presentations on topics of interest.

Rummer said COATS can cover the cost for families to obtain a confidential
drug test for a child at Harbor Hall. He said three to five families make
arrangements for such a test on a monthly basis.

If test results indicate drug use, Rummer added that COATS will cover the
cost for an initial treatment consultation at Harbor Hall.

Through its fundraising, COATS has helped Petoskey expand the number of
sweeps which contraband-detecting dogs make on school property. Rummer said
four of these searches - intended as deterrents to drug use - have taken
place so far this year.

While school officials have found the sweeps effective to some extent,
Rummer said dogs have continued to turn up illicit substances each time.

"It has been a deterrent, but there's still a need for it," he said.

COATS also has helped arrange several guest speakers to address substance
abuse and related issues with Petoskey students. In cooperation with local
law enforcement officers, Rummer has presented workshops to help parents
and educators identify common drug paraphernalia.

Hitting it off with youth

All in all, COATS aims not for a reactive approach to drug use, Rummer
said, but for a proactive one which students can easily embrace. The
selection of a "warm and soft" acronym like COATS was made for this purpose.

Based on a survey of local youth that the Emmet 20/20 community visioning
group took several years ago, Rummer said some area teens seem to sense
that the community doesn't care much about them.

COATS has established a birthday recognition program in Petoskey schools.
On their birthdays, middle- and high-school students' names are announced
on the schools' public-address systems. COATS provides the students with a
candy-filled Nalgene sports bottle as a gift.

"In many kids' lives, unfortunately, that might be the only recognition
they get that day," Rummer said.

COATS also arranges a variety of supervised social activities for youth in
Petoskey. In part, Rummer said these have been organized in response to
teens' complaints that the area doesn't offer much for them to do.

"Our statistics will show you the drug use is strongest at the unsupervised
times," he added.

For high school students, COATS has arranged twice-monthly dances at the
YMCA of Northern Michigan. With attendance sometimes straining the YMCA's
capacity, some recent dances have taken place at the larger Emmet County
Fairgrounds Community Center.

"There's a lot of people at the dances that could be out doing drugs, but
instead they're there," Katherine said.

For middle-school students, COATS has offered monthly outings to the movies
and other destinations.

Steering the process

COATS' early meetings drew dozens of people - school officials, parents,
students, teachers, drug treatment and criminal justice professionals and
other interested local residents.

"It went from 60-70 people in the beginning down to a core group of about
12 people," said Vickie Van Slembrouck, a Petoskey parent who's been
involved since COATS' inception. "We always encourage parents to become
involved."

For Van Slembrouck, who has a son recovering from substance abuse, COATS
provided a means of personal healing.

"It's still my way of healing and helping others," she said. "I think one
of the most important things we offer is help and support to the parents
who need it."

The Petoskey-Harbor Springs Area Community Foundation and the Emmet County
Local Revenue Sharing Board have been COATS' major funding sources. Local
service clubs and individuals have contributed financially, too.

"We operate on a $30,000 per year budget, but I think we're seeing a lot of
bang for the buck," Rummer said.

Emmet County Circuit Judge Charles Johnson was active in COATS' early
meetings, and still keeps track of the group's activities.

Noting that a significant share of the people who commit crimes have
histories of drug and alcohol abuse, Johnson said COATS' work is important.

"I certainly support the mission and think that the group is doing good
things to give students an alternative to drug use," he said.

Expanding the network

In neighboring Cheboygan County, another judge has embraced Petoskey's
COATS approach and is working to help local schools establish similar programs.

"I really am impressed with what they've done," Cheboygan County Probate
Judge Robert John Butts said. "In order to combat the problem, you need the
involvement of everyone in the community - parents, teachers, kids,
professionals. The COATS group is a working relationship among those people."

Using state grant money his court obtains for delinquency prevention, Butts
has provided school districts around Cheboygan County with $1,000 apiece in
seed money to help start their own COATS chapters. Groups have formed in
the Cheboygan, Inland Lakes, Mackinaw City and Wolverine districts, with
Cheboygan's Harbor Hall branch providing support along the way.

To Butts, the opportunity for youth to support one another as they try to
resolve drug issues is one valuable aspect of COATS.

"As we often say in our juvenile department, one at a time," Butts said.
"If we get one student headed in the right direction, we're successful."

Inland Lakes High School principal Don Killingbeck said Petoskey's
anti-substance abuse efforts were similar to his own school's, so that
district decided to use the COATS name as well.

Support groups, monthly student birthday parties arranged in cooperation
with Students Against Drunk Driving and educational programs for parents
have been part of Inland Lakes' COATS program. The group also puts a
priority on afterschool offerings for students, like self-defense classes
and tutoring.

In terms of risky behavior, "the statistics or the data shows that 3-5 p.m.
is the most dangerous time for teenagers," Killingbeck noted.

In the Harbor Springs school district, participants in Community Against
Substance Abuse - which also arranges programs like counseling, student
assemblies and drug-dog sweeps - have compared notes with COATS as well.

"No matter where I go, I learn something different from what another
district is doing," Rummer said.

COATS supporters also are exploring possibilities to establish the program
in schools around Charlevoix, Mackinac and Presque Isle counties.

"We're trying to get one started in all of the communities in the tip of
the mitt and the Upper Peninsula so we can get people together and share
information," Butts said.

Sizing it up

In recent years, Petoskey school officials have noted that youth substance
abuse issues in their district are similar to what other districts around
the region face, and that local drug use surveys show usage rates close to
the national average.

Still, more than one of these officials has noted the desire to achieve
better-than average statistics.

In 2002-03, Petoskey middle- and high-school students completed anonymous
surveys developed by Colorado State University regarding their drug use
histories.

Among Petoskey 12th-graders, 50 percent reported using alcohol in the month
leading up to the survey, 22 percent used marijuana, 8 percent used
cocaine, 7 percent used stimulants and 9 percent used hallucinogens. Among
12th graders nationwide, a National Institute on Drug Abuse survey in 2000
showed that usage rates for these drugs were 50 percent, 22 percent, 2
percent, 5 percent and 3 percent, respectively.

When Petoskey students again take the Colorado State University survey
sometime this year, Rummer said school officials likely will compare the
results with 2002-03 figures in hope of finding out whether COATS' efforts
have had a noticeable impact.

Jack Waldvogel was the Petoskey school board member who proposed the drug
testing idea for students in extracurriculars in 2002. Though he believes
this practice still could be a useful deterrent, "it doesn't seem as
necessary now as it did before," he said.

"We're addressing them in as positive a manner as we can within the realm
of the school district," Waldvogel added, noting that Harbor Hall's support
of the anti-drug efforts has been helpful. "If someone has alternative
solutions that they think would work better, I think everyone would be
happy to hear them. So far, it has been a positive situation to have both
COATS and Harbor Hall there."

Terry Newton, executive director of Harbor Hall and a member of the COATS
committee, said he was proud to see the school district and its partners
receive the Civic Star award.

"A lot of times, communities try to hide and pretend that a problem doesn't
exist," he said. "I'm really proud of our communities that have tried to
take a progressive stand."

Help available

Petoskey's Community Offering Alternatives to Substance-abuse (COATS)
offers Northern Michigan families the opportunity to obtain a free drug
test for a child. It can determine the presence of eight common substances.
When tests show the presence of drugs, COATS will cover the cost for an
initial consultation at the Harbor Hall substance abuse treatment center.

COATS organizers meet at 7 p.m. on the last Monday of each month in the
Petoskey High School media center. The public is welcome to attend.

For more information on COATS' services or opportunities to get involved,
call Jim Rummer at 348-2103 or Vickie Van Slembrouck at 881-0942.