Local Business Sponsors Heroin Prevention Program for Teens

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Johnstown, PA (Nov. 3, 2016) – JWF Industries is leading the region in a forward-thinking business-education partnership to bringa new prescription opioids/heroin prevention education program to teens in Cambria and Somerset counties. The Learning Lamp launched the This is (Not) About Drugs program in area schools in October on a first come, first served basis. In an effort to stretch grant dollars further, the agency initially asked larger schools to prioritize the grades that would receive the program so it could reach a broader geographic area. It then appealed to key business leaders in the community asking for their support to reach more students.

With JWF serving as the school district’s sponsor, 754 youth in grades 7-12 at Richland High School will participate in the interactive, peer-to-peer video-based program beginning November 3 and continuing through December.

“The heroin epidemic and drug problem we have in our region is every person’s, every business’s, and every civic organization’s responsibility,” explained Bill Polacek, president & CEO of JWF Industries. “We are proud to support the efforts to educate, especially at an early age, so that we work on our children’s future today.”

This is (Not) About Drugs is an outcomes-driven, science-based program developed by a nonprofit organization in the state of Indiana. The founder of Overdose Lifeline is a health educator by trade and mother who lost her 20-year-old son to a heroin overdose. The education program is geared to students in grades 9-12 and aims to close a critical gap in traditional prevention education with regard to opioids, the brain science of addiction and how misusing prescription pain pills is often a direct pathway to heroin use, addiction and death.

“The school district is very appreciative of the support from the Polacek family and JWF. Both entities realize that fighting this battle is a community effort,” said Brandon Bailey, principal of Richland High School. “Unfortunately, the data from the PA Youth survey indicates that our students are experimenting with drugs and alcohol at a young age. It is important to deliver programming to all of our students in grades 7 through 12.”

The seed money to launch the pilot program came from grants from Community Foundation for the Alleghenies and Lee Initiatives and a contribution from a private donor. The Learning Lamp was also recently awarded a $5,000 Community Drug Abuse Prevention grant from the PA Office of Attorney General. Its goal is to make available This is (Not) About Drugs to any and all grade levels from 7-12 in any public or non-public school in the Cambria-Somerset region.

To date, The Learning Lamp has delivered the program to 453 students from three public and non-public schools in the two-county region and with notable results. Pre/post-program surveys among juniors and seniors at Central Cambria High School, for example, found a 52 percent increase in understanding that prescription pain pills are the same type of drug as heroin and a 37 percent increase in the knowledge that misusing those pills is as risky as using heroin.

“This program provided our students with an experience that will greatly increase their ability to combat this deadly epidemic,” explained Randy Wilson, guidance counselor at Central Cambria High School. “Hearing the horrifying results of using opioids from their peers was so impactful to our students, it truly hit home that I could be one of them.”

In 2014, six people in Cambria County died from heroin overdoses. So far in 2016, the Cambria County Coroner’s office has confirmed 54 opioid and heroin-related overdose deaths. For more information, call Lisa Stofko at 814-262-0732 ext. 249.

The Learning Lamp is a nonprofit organization with a mission to engage all children in the support they need to succeed. We deliver high quality programs that are affordable and accessible to families of all income levels. The Learning Lamp served 30,711 children from 57 school districts and 53 non-public and private schools and other organizations in 17 Pennsylvania counties and one county in Maryland in 2015.

Our programs include: one-to-one tutoring; before/after school programs; portable classrooms aimed at building math and science skills; alternative education programs for at-risk students; evidence-based prevention programs; online learning and credit recovery; SAT preparation; educationally-focused child care; literacy-based preschool programs; and grant writing and project consulting for schools.