BUTLER'S ANTI-DRUG EFFORTS HAILED

Dream Team Promotes Positive Peer Pressure

Jeremy Johnson and Robert Blanton have lost friends because they
wouldn't do drugs or drink alcohol. It's a stiff price to pay, but
these Butler High School seniors say it's worth it if they can help
others stay clean.

The two are among a dozen seniors who comprise the school's Daring to
Role-model Excellence as Athletic Mentors, known as the DREAM Team, a
program sponsored by the N.C. High School Athletic
Association.

The school was one of four in the state this week to be given a
Student Services School of the Year award partly because of the
success of the program. It was the first year for the award and Butler
was selected from more than 50 nominations, said Mark Dreibelbis,
assistant executive director of the association.

Johnson said he chose to stay alcohol- and drug-free to continue with
the track team. It's sad that not all of his friends avoided the same
temptations, he said.

"It's hard when you choose your life and they chose this," said
Johnson, president of the DREAM Team. "I just realized that I didn't
want to go to any of their funerals."

The DREAM Team talks to students in elementary, middle and high school
about avoiding illegal drugs and alcohol and act as role models for
the younger crowd and their peers. Only high school seniors are
allowed on the team, and they go through a lengthy application and
interview process.

The new award joins dozens of others presented each year to individual
students and athletic departments in the 378 N.C. schools the athletic
association represents, Dreibelbis said. But unlike those other awards
this recognition is more comprehensive, he said.

"I'll be honest with you, Butler High School has one of the best
(DREAM teams) in the state," Dreibelbis said. "I just can't say enough
about .. what they do. It's such a leadership module for our program.
They exemplify what we're trying to do through student services."

In her sixth year at Butler as adviser to the DREAM Team, Janet
Prevatte said she's proud of what these "normal teenagers" can accomplish.

"They're willing to stand up among their peers and do the right thing
and that says a lot about a young person these days," she said. "I
just love working with them. They're such an inspiration to me."

The team members have their own source of inspiration for why they are
involved.

For Blanton, the drug-free message has been personal since he was 4
years old.

Then, an aunt who was a cocaine user was shot and run over in
Portland, Ore., because of her drug involvement, he said. And more
recently he's sat in hospital rooms with his parents while two other
family members who had long smoked marijuana died.

"I've had a lot of people in my family pass away doing drugs," he
said. "A lot of friends have been drinking and gotten into bad times.
I just want to make a difference."

Though team members get mixed reactions from fellow high school
students about their message, sometimes being labeled as "stuck up,"
the team is already having an impact this year, Johnson said,

The 18-year-old looked forward to reconnecting with a classmate he had
cut ties with after the friend started smoking marijuana and drinking,
he said.

The friend told Johnson last week he's done with that lifestyle and
wanted to hang out again.

"It's nice to know he's finally kicked the habit," Johnson said.