Classrooms, Coalitions & Collaboration

Airs: April 24, 2008, 1-2pm EDT

Sponsor(s): CADCA

Share

We're all trying to raise a drug-free generation and spread prevention messages effectively. To do so, we need access to many kids at once. One great place to have this kind of access is a school. But as many coalitions have found out, getting inside a school isn't always easy. Coalitions and schools don't always work so well together and it's often difficult for the two sides to realize what frightens the other.

Coalitions need data to target their prevention messages and to satisfy funders. School administrators are sometimes afraid of what the data might show.

During this hour-long CADCA TV program, we�ll hear why some schools are leery of participating in drug surveys and how you as a coalition can try to calm those fears. Survey experts will teach how to get things organized before approaching a school. You�ll also learn about a coalition in Hartford, Connecticut that forged a strong partnership with local schools, and how this partnership has helped strengthen the coalition�s mission. Also, see how one coalition formed its own school to help a part of the population that was underserved.

 Learning Objectives:

-         Learn how to approach schools about data collection

-         Find out why schools are often leery about surveys

-         See how a coalition formed its own school to help and underserved part of the population

Content Providers: 

Paul Evensen, Vice President and Chief Science Officer at Community Systems Group, a national public health consulting and evaluation firm

Mr. Evensen has worked with hundreds of local partnerships to address a wide variety of health issues including substance abuse, teen pregnancy, literacy, youth suicide, immunization, nutrition, physical activity and HIV prevention.  Mr. Evensen holds a master�s degree and is currently a Ph.D. candidate at the World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Community Health and Development in the Department of Applied Behavioral Science at the University of Kansas.

Paul has been involved in nearly every aspect of coalition work as a former executive director, evaluator, board member and volunteer.  He was the executive director of the Upstate HIV Prevention Coalition in Greenville, SC and has been the volunteer evaluator for Safe Streets of Topeka Kansas for the past eleven years.  Mr. Evensen is the co-founder of two non-profit organizations and currently lives in St Louis, Missouri.  

Doug Hall, Pride Surveys, President

Doug Hall was a daily newspaper editor in 1975 when he became involved in Drug and Alcohol Prevention Advocates, one of the first community anti-drug coalitions in the United States. Under his guidance, the newspaper adopted adolescent drug use as a civic journalism project, championing public funding for DAPA, running a weekly column on drug prevention and giving front page attention to ATOD issues.

In 1987, Doug�s experience with DAPA led to a second career when he joined the National Parents� Resource Institute for Drug Education (PRIDE). In the early 1990�s he was appointed by HHS Secretary Donna Shalala to the National Advisory Council of the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP).

In 1998, PRIDE founder Dr. Thomas J. Gleaton retired from the organization and established International Survey Associates, which does business as Pride Surveys. Doug joined ISA as a consultant and worked in that capacity until 2006 when he joined ISA/Pride Surveys full-time as senior vice-president. He became president of the company in January 2008.

Since 1982 Pride Surveys have been administered in more than 32,000 schools in the US and other countries. More than 10 million students, parents and faculty members have responded to a Pride Survey.

Doug is an accomplished cook, speaks English and Spanish, and has traveled extensively.

Andrew Woods, Executive Director, Hartford Communities That Care, Hartford, CT

Woods is the founder of the Stump the Violence Youth Leadership Institute that began in 1998 to address the issues of drug use and violence in Hartford. He is also a state certified substance abuse counselor. Woods has a Bachelor of Human Services from Springfield College in Springfield, MA. He serves on several community and school boards dealing with drug and violence prevention issues and is a grant reviewer for both the CDC and SAMHSA.

You can view this broadcast at no cost from any site with a satellite dish having C-band downlink capabilities. All viewing sites must register in advance to receive the necessary satellite coordinates. To register, contact Ed Kronholm at 877-820-0305 or dlnets@aol.com. Web Site: www.dlnets.com/MCTFT2nd.htm .  The broadcast also will be webcast live at www.MCTFT.com.

This broadcast is made possible through a partnership with the Multijurisdictional Counterdrug Task Force Training Program (MCTFT), St. Petersburg College and the Florida National Guard.

back to top