The Kick Off of the 2009 Drug Awareness Program

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Each year Regent Park Focus organizes a Drug Awareness Program in partnership with one or more local schools. The goal of the program is to engage students in activities that increase their awareness about drugs. This year Regent Park Focus partnered with Sprucecourt Jr. Public School to put on three weeks of events where students could explore the implications of drug use and then share what they learned to others through art, music, drama and the creation of radio public service announcements. The following is a description of the kick off event.



To kick-off the Drug Awareness Program at Sprucecourt school an assembly was held for Grade 4, 5 and 6 classes. The assembly took place on November 17, 2009 and it started off with a demonstration of break dancing by Lady Noize, a Toronto break dancer. Lady Noize engaged the audience in the importance of staying healthy by getting students to “flaunt their stuff” and get up to dance. After the dancing, three great guest speakers came up to talk about drugs. Andrew Galloway shared his personal experiences of using cocaine and the impact it had on his life. Carolin Swinson of the Toronto chapter of Mothers Against Drinking and Driving (MADD) talked about losing her husband and son to a drunk driver. As part of her talk, Caroline invited to teachers to walk along a straight line wearing goggles that stimulates what happens to your vision when you drink. The students got a kick out of the teacher’s inability to walk the line successfully. Heather Dickinson of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police was next. Heather led students on a drug awareness quiz and those who answered successfully was rewarded with all sorts of goodies. After each speaker presented, students had an opportunity to ask them questions. The assembly ended with the announcement of the Drug Awareness Classroom Door and Poster Contest and everyone seemed excited to get started. Tune in on our next update to find out how it all went.

By Stephanie N and Adonis

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