YOUTH TO YOUTH HIGHLIGHTS YEAR'S ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Dover Youth to Youth, an after-school drug prevention program for
middle school and high school students in the Dover area, celebrated
its 7th annual year-end awards banquet on June 21, hosted by the Dover
Elks Lodge. About 150 students and parents attended the end of the
year celebration.

Dover Youth to Youth (Y2Y) had a very active and productive year that
included work in areas such as developing original anti-drug media,
proposing legislation, enforcement, providing training to students,
and action projects that generally promote being drug free.

Developing Media

A large part of the work that Y2Y members do involves working with the
media to get a drug-free message out into the community. This year
students got the opportunity to make appearances on the morning shows
on radio station WERZ and WOKQ. They also created a TV public service
announcement about second-hand smoke and a 14-minute news-style video
on the tobacco industry that has been played on the Dover local cable
access channel.

Legislative Work

Several students had the chance to testify in front of the Dover City
Council and the New Hampshire State Legislature in support of pieces
of legislation that the students themselves proposed.

Examples of their legislative work this year include a bill initiated
by Y2Y members from Saint Thomas Aquinas High School Team. The bill
seeks to strengthen the NH State Seatbelt Law. Members have also been
collaborating with the Dover Fire Department and several state fire
associations to propose a state law that would require all cigarettes
sold in New Hampshire to be self-extinguishing. Y2Y student and
eighth-grader Emily Martuscello testified before the legislative
committee in support of this bill.

In March, three Y2Y members, Kaitlyn Reilly, Emily Martuscello and
Sara Dudley, spoke before the Dover City Council in favor of a city
ordinance called the McConnell Ordinance. The ordinance was passed 8-1
by the City Council, making the grounds of the McConnell Center, home
of the Dover Youth to Youth program, a tobacco-free zone.

Enforcement

In an effort to protect their peers from the harm of tobacco, the
students took part in an enforcement effort called tobacco compliance
checks. Students attempted to buy tobacco products in local stores to
see if the vendors are checking IDs. If a student is turned away from
making the purchase, the clerk is given a T-shirt or mug as a thank
you. The students were happy to find that none of the 25 stores
checked in Dover this year sold to them.

Presentations and Training Provided

Throughout the year, Y2Y students also kept active with presentations
to students and adults in Dover as well as in other communities in New
England. Hundreds of students received presentations during the year.

For example, Y2Y students taught an assembly for all 250 fifth-graders
at Dover Middle School during the DARE program, taught the
anti-tobacco TRUTH classes in all five fourth grades at Garrison
school, provided the Samantha Skunk program for all the second-graders
in the Dover schools, and presented an Alcohol and Sexual Assault
assembly for all the eighth-graders at Dover Middle School, and all
ninth- and tenth-graders at Saint Thomas Aquinas High School.

Youth to Youth students also presented many out-of-town presentations
in places like Salem and Littleton high schools, and at the New
Hampshire State Drug Conference and a regional conference Colebrook,
as well as two conferences in Maine.

Action Projects

Students conducted a variety of projects this year that were designed
to raise the community's awareness of the problems surrounding
alcohol, tobacco and other drugs. In one activity, the students
highlighted the problem of cigarette butt littering at a local beach.
Students sifted the sand in several 10-by-10-foot squares, and found
an average of 40 butts per square. They then held a press conference
to make the public aware of the problem.

Another action project the students have taken on is going into the
local stores to put warning labels on tobacco and alcohol products
around the city. They took on this project in order to warn the public
of the potential harm of the use of these products. Y2Y also held its
annual Gear Exchange during Kick Butts Week in April, hosted a youth
tobacco conference for the state, and held a Jump-Up Day, which is a
drug-free field day held annually for all of the fourth-grade students
in Dover who are jumping up to middle school next fall.

Awards Received in 2005

Youth to Youth's efforts this year, however, have not gone
unrecognized. The members of the Y2Y Saint Thomas Aquinas Team
received two awards this year for their work in drafting and passing a
state bill in 2004, called the Party Host Law. This law made it
illegal to host an underage drinking or drug party in New Hampshire,
whether or not the host actually provides the alcohol or drugs. In
recognition of their work on this piece of legislation, the Saint
Thomas Team received the "Youth Advocacy Award" from the NH Governor's
Traffic Safety Commission and went to Washington, DC, to receive an
award from the Association for Addiction Professionals.

Also this year, Kaitlyn Reilly, a junior at Saint Thomas Aquinas High
School, received the Eastern Region Youth Advocate of the Year Award
from the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids for her extensive work in the
field of tobacco prevention and advocacy. With this award Kaitlyn will
receive a $2,000 scholarship, and the group will receive $500 to use
on other projects next year.

Anyone with questions regarding the Dover Youth to Youth program can
call the Community Outreach Bureau at 516-3274.