Friday, January 24th New Lima staff members attended a training at Seminole State College designed to combat substance abuse in our schools and our communities.
The Seminole Nation Tribal Court has seen a dramatic increase in the number of young people who are using drugs and committing crimes in our communities. Our children are being targeted with products that are advertised as "legal" products. A product that is "legal" does NOT mean they are safe drugs. We know from experience that these drugs are being brought to school and consumed at school. Unfortunately, these drugs are packaged in such a way that they are disguised as a safe and harmless product and may be unrecognizable by our teachers and school personnel as a harmful drug. This training gave our staff the tools and information we need to make classrooms a safer environment for learning by recognizing disguised drugs and spotting signs of use.
The presentation was given by Jermaine Galloway, a nationally recognized speaker on substance abuse prevention and education. Mr. Galloway is a law enforcement officer that has been working with communities for more than 20 years to combat underage drinking and teach drug prevention in our schools. The program he presented was entitled "High in Plain Sight" or "You Can't Stop What You Don't Know". The program Mr. Galloway presented was highly visual, interactive and class-specific. The training was designed so that our staff left with a greater understanding of how our children are being targeted and how to identify these so called "Legal Drugs" that are infiltrating our schools.
We want to give a HUGE thank you to Seminole Nation Tribal Court, Juvenile Health and Wellness Program, Seminole State College, SSC President Lana Reynolds, and Melanie Andrews for providing this training to our staff.