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Informed Families Catalyst

[Press Release] Schools and Organizations Named Informed Families All Stars

Posted by Informed Families on June 21, 2017 at 8:00 AM

16 Florida Schools and Organizations Named Informed Families All Stars for Their Efforts to Prevent Teen Drug and Alcohol Use

Informed Families, a Florida nonprofit devoted to helping kids grow up safe, healthy and drug-free, is proud to announce its All Star Schools for 2017. Sixteen Florida schools and organizations received the honor for this school year.

Informed Families created the All Star program to recognize the success schools and community organizations are achieving through drug and alcohol prevention efforts. To be eligible for All Star status, schools must complete the four prevention campaigns Informed Families sponsors throughout the school year:

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Topics: all star schools

Introducing the Informed Families 2017 All Star Schools

Posted by Informed Families on June 13, 2017 at 3:36 PM

Another school year has concluded in Florida - and students around the state are graduating high school or moving on to the next grade. The end of the school year also means something else near and dear to Informed Families: the selection of the All Star Schools.

What a year 2016-17 was for us! We bestowed All Star status upon 16 schools and organizations. Moreover, we worked with schools in all 67 counties across the state to implement anti-drug and anti-alcohol campaigns and provide information to help teens makes smart choices and stay safe.

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Topics: all star schools

Setting Up Student Success by Becoming an All Star School

Posted by Informed Families on September 7, 2016 at 12:00 PM

According to the latest study on teen drug use in the United States, 8.1 percent of eighth-graders used illicit drugs during any given month in 2015. A number like this could be seen as discouraging given the efforts schools and other organizations make to combat drug use in adolescents. But it could also be viewed another way: 91.9 percent of eighth-graders hadn’t used drugs during that time. That can be seen as a success—success that can be benchmarked, celebrated and built upon in the future.

Informed Families created the All Star Safe, Healthy & Drug Free Schools program to recognize the student success that schools are achieving throughout Florida through prevention efforts. A school that completes Informed Families’ four drug prevention campaigns is eligible to be named an All Star School; one All Star School is selected in each of the state’s 67 counties. All Star Schools receive well-deserved media recognition and $1,000 of prevention merchandise for the next school year.

Student success is the primary benefit of striving toward All Star Schools status. Here’s a look at what schools can achieve through the initiative:

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Topics: all star schools, Student Success

All Star Ambassador Spotlight: Laura Estes of Walton County

Posted by Informed Families on July 20, 2016 at 5:50 PM

Parents at Freeport Middle School generally respond to Informed Families Ambassador and All Star Safe Healthy & Drug Free School winner Laura Estes quite positively. Not to anyone’s surprise, the majority of parents are very appreciative of her dedication to the health and well-being of her students, demonstrated by her delivery of year-round prevention programs.

“One mom told me she was walking by her daughter’s room and heard her daughter say, ‘no, we can never get involved with anything like that because you remember what Ms. Estes said,’” said Laura. “I love to hear stories like that or run into former students who tell me that they never tried drugs after going through my program.”

However, not all responses are immediately positive, especially among parents who are smokers or heavy drinkers.

“One parent who smoked cigarettes said, ‘if I have to hear about the harmful effects of tobacco products one more time, I’m going to strangle you,’” said Estes, with a smile. “Several of my students have inspired their own parents to break out of bad habits. They tell me all the time, ‘my mom hasn’t had a cigarette in three weeks’ or ‘my dad isn’t drinking as much anymore.’”

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Topics: red ribbon week, ambassadors, lock your meds, campaigns, middle school, parents, all star schools, Freeport Middle School, walton county

2015-2016 Informed Families All Star Schools Recognized

Posted by Informed Families on June 26, 2016 at 9:43 AM

2 Florida Schools Selected & Honored For Prevention Success During 2015-2016 School Year

The sky’s the limit for these stars! Two Florida schools just earned bragging rights for their tremendous efforts to help prevent students from underage drinking and substance abuse. The All Star Schools were selected and recognized by Informed Families/The Florida Family Partnership, a 34-year-old Florida-based non-profit organization with a mission of helping kids grow up safe, healthy and drug free.

Freeport Middle School in Walton County, thanks to the efforts of Ambassador Laura Estes and the support of Principal Charlie Morse, and Olympia High School in Orange County, thanks to the efforts of Ambassador Molly Sidwell and the support of Principal Guy Swenson, were chosen among hundreds of schools participating in Informed Families’ Ambassador Program for their demonstrated dedication to year-round prevention activities and for their success in actively engaging students, parents and faculty in prevention.

“We are thrilled to recognize the outstanding efforts of Freeport High School and Olympia High School,” said Peggy B. Sapp, President and CEO of Informed Families. “Our All Star Safe, Healthy and Drug Free Schools know the importance of spreading healthy, drug-free messages to help students and families make smart choices surrounding alcohol and other drugs, ultimately saving lives. Our programs are designed to curb underage drinking, substance abuse and other risky behaviors - and the impact is real, thanks to the participation of our Ambassadors in schools across Florida – and especially our All Star Schools.” 

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Topics: red ribbon week, ambassadors, campaigns, Olympia High School, all star schools, Freeport Middle School, recognition

About Us

We teach people how to say no to drugs and how to make healthy choices. To reduce the demand for drugs, Informed Families has focused its efforts on educating and mobilizing the community, parents and young people in order to change attitudes. In this way we counteract the pressures in society that condone and promote drug and alcohol use and abuse. The organization educates thousands of families annually about how to stay drug and alcohol free through networking and a variety of programs and services .

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