Jackson County Prevention Partnership hosting its “Light For Life” evening of remembrance and hope Tuesday to educate community families and address critical mental health topics.
Director Nora Anderson said the gathering is strategically timed to connect several major national awareness initiatives occurring throughout the late summer and fall.
“It’s important to talk about these things,” Anderson said. “Because that helps to reduce the stigma because there may be somebody who is in need of help but they’re afraid to reach out or there may be families who are struggling and they don’t know where to go or how to reach out for help.”
Anderson said the event serves as a unified platform to address regional substance abuse prevention, upcoming fentanyl awareness campaigns, and international overdose response resources.
Anderson said the organization is utilizing the community gathering as a direct vehicle to reach out to local parents and guardians who are already traveling to the campus. Anderson said the partnership designed the outreach to offer parents actionable prevention tools and educational resources while their children are attending the school dance.
“While the students are having fun at the homecoming dance, they’re at the school,” Anderson said. “We will be there to educate the parents about why substance use prevention is important, what it means, what it is, and also what they can be doing to protect their children and set them up for success by practicing prevention at home.”
Anderson said the event targets local parents and guardians by operating concurrently with the ongoing Jackson County Middle School homecoming activities. Anderson said the partnership has coordinated with various local health vendors to provide printed resources and answer individual family questions in a comfortable setting.
“We hope to get parents to come a little early before they pick up the students and come hang out with us for a little while,” Anderson said. “We will have light refreshments, so we’re not going to make you sit in the library hungry and listen to us talk. We will be in the library at the school, so they’ll be able to come in on the side door and we’ll have some vendors there with resources, and we will also have some interactive displays of some of our programs.”
Anderson said the educational programming features an active collaboration with the local UT Extension 4-H office to showcase their specialized Health Rocks curriculum. Anderson said the curriculum utilizes peer-led interactive activities, including a specialized intoxication goggles obstacle course, to visually demonstrate physical impairment risks to area youth.
“So far, I feel like it has been really successful,” Anderson said. “It’s been great for engaging the students and helping to recruit more team leaders to engage in peer learning because part of the program is to have the older students help to teach the younger ones in the grade.”
Anderson said the interactive demonstration tracks are designed to give participants a firsthand look at how substances alter physical coordination. Anderson said the partnership is currently expanding the multi-week program to reach multiple grade levels across the county school system.
“The goggles simulate being intoxicated,” Anderson said. “We have a small obstacle course set up with cones. So if parents go through the activity, they will have to go through the cones without stepping on anything. We also have another one that simulates the loss of coordination that has gloves. You have to manipulate a coin or a token to put it into a small container, which is very challenging when your hands don’t work properly.”
Anderson said the partnership’s long-term goal is to break down communication barriers so families feel comfortable seeking help when they need it. She said reducing stigma around addiction and mental health is essential to protecting Jackson County youth.
Anderson said the event takes place tonight in the Jackson County Middle School library from 5pm-6:30pm.
