By Stephen Smoot
Two years ago West Virginia Governor Jim Justice, with great fanfare, announced the opening of the Game Changer program in West Virginia.
The innovative peer leadership drug abuse prevention program, in partnership with the world-renowned Hazelden Betty Ford Center, chose three schools in which to start, with programs geared toward elementary, middle, and high school students. It established pilot programs in three schools, Big Elm Elementary, Lincoln Middle, and Lincoln High School.
Said Governor Justice at the time, “I can’t even begin to tell you how excited I am today to make this announcement of the first Game Changers Schools,” Gov. Justice said. “The collaboration between Game Changers and the world-renowned Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation shows the level of commitment all of those involved are making to support students and break the cycle of addiction.”
The Governor went on to say that “I thank West Virginia Game Changers, Harrison County Schools, our state Board of Education, and Hazelden Betty Ford for joining forces and working with our school systems to make a powerful difference for the next generation of West Virginians.”
Now two years in and with a strong track record of success, the Lincoln High School Game Changers gave a presentation to the Shinnston Women’s Club.
On Monday, November 18, 2024, Ms. Jessica Freeman, Lincoln’s GAME CHANGER Advisor and the peer leaders of GAME CHANGER came to the Shinnston Woman’s Club meeting at Casey’s talk about GAME CHANGER and its goal to spread Positivity and work towards a Healthier, Happier, More Drug-Free World. They explained that GAME CHANGER began as an opioid prevention program and has expanded to raise awareness of preventative measures around ALL drugs, especially Fentanyl.
They use data from the student-body-wide survey to target drug-related problems in the school. The students spoke of the Core Four: Honesty, Respect, Positivity, and Kindness that is the foundation of their beliefs and activities as they advocate for healthy decisions through these principles.
It was a very interesting program and informed the members of the Woman’s Club of a program and activity the students at Lincoln High School are participating in to try to stop drug and alcohol use before it starts.