Miranda Adkins | So Salem

Kaitlyn Salvia's poster transformed into a billboard sponsored by RAYSAC.

The Salem Prevention Planning team hosted a "town hall" meeting at the Salem YMCA on Tuesday night, Nov. 10, to discuss the results of a youth risk behavior study taken by kids in the sixth, eighth, tenth, and twelfth grades in Salem City Schools in the spring.

The team is made up of citizens, parents, and professionals, including Salem City school officials and employees.

Although similar surveys have been administered in the past, this one is identical to the one that Roanoke city and Roanoke, Botetourt, and Craig counties use and will let RAYSAC compare overall youth risk in the Roanoke Valley. Once the test is used in Salem for a few years, RAYSAC will be able to determine trend data.

"We're all here because we care about our youth so much. We want to be there to help them to move into adulthood as safely as possible," said Brooks Michael, teen pregnancy prevention coordinator in Roanoke city. "Although the survey is given in the school, we don't look at these as school issues, we look at these as community isssues," she said.

The survey measures youth attitude and behaviors in five areas: alcohol, drug, and tobacco use; sexual activity; violence; depression; and other health related behaviors such as bicycle and vehicle safety. Some of the results in Salem were alarming but were in line with the figures presented from other school systems' surveys:

It was easy or very easy for a percentage of high schoolers to: 87 percent get alcohol, 77 percent get marijuana. Forty-three percent of middle-schoolers said it was easy or very easy to get alcohol.

One in five high.schoolers used alcohol in the past 30 days.

23 percent of high-schoolers engaged in binge drinking (Four to five drinks in a row in a two-hour period).

28 percent of high-schoolers said they were between 13 and 15 years old when they first tried marijuana.

Tobacco use was not as overwhelming: 16 percent of high-schoolers smoked cigarettes in the last 30 days; 9 percent used smokeless tobacco; 9 percent of middle-schoolers smoked cigarettes.

"The things that kids feel like are dangerous they're going to steer clear of, but then there are these mixed messages in the media about the use of medical marijuana and the healthful benefits of a glass of alcohol a day," said Curtis Hicks, a member of the prevention planning team and secondary education coordinator at Salem city schools. He noted the anti-smoking rhetoric of the last five to 10 years that has impacted the perception of tobacco.

The team's and RAYSAC's goal is to make youth and parents as aware of the harmful effects of other risky behaviors as they are of tobacco. Salemites, don't be surprised if you start seeing more anti-risky behavior rhetoric around in the coming months and years.

Basic family behaviors that greatly reduced the likelihood of risky behaviors included: having clear rules and expectations, eating dinner together, parents knowing childrens' friends and their childrens' friends' parents, and parents modeling good behaviors.

For more information about RAYSAC and the Salem Prevention Planning team, visit www.raysac.org.

Roanoke County is offering a "Guiding Good Choices Workshop: building strong family ties" in January, April, and June of next year for parents of students in grades three through eight. Workshops are also available for schools, community coalitions, faith based and civic organizations, and health/human services organizations. For more information, email Brooks Michael at Smichael@carilion.com or call 314-5030.

Glenvar Coalition will get Glenvar Elementary parents on board early

The Glenvar Coalition, Glenvar High and Middle Schools' student, parent, and community prevention council, began planning their year at their meeting on Thursday night, Nov. 12.

At 7 p.m., Tuesday, Nov. 17, the teens of the Glenvar Coalition, Glenvar High and Middles Schools' student, parent, and community prevention council, were presenting fifth-grade parents with ideas on how to get involved with their children to prevent risky behaviors.

The high school students were to begin planning the sixth annual YADAPP conference for middle schoolers 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 19. High-schoolers from all over Southwest Virginia come together to provide a program for middle school students that emphasizes making the right choices and avoiding risky behaviors. This year's conference will be held March 27. College students, in turn, plan one for high school students statewide that is held over the summer. Glenvar High students who attended the 25th annual conference at Longwood in July were Samantha Hannabass, Tucker Hudson and Kendall Jarvis.

This year's combined PTA meeting for Glenvar High and Glenvar Middle will be held at 7 p.m. Feb. 22. The coalition will also present a talent show open to middle school students again this year, with the performance date of Feb. 5.

Community members as well as students and parents are welcome to be a part of the Glenvar Coalition. Their next meeting is 11:30 a.m. Dec. 16 at the Glenvar Middle School forum. Contact Tabitha Cain at tabithaandrew@verizon.net for more information.

Glenvar High's third year of United Way Day of Caring draws 137 students

It wasn't just a chance to get out of class, it was an opportunity for 137 Glenvar High School students to participate in their school's third year with the United Way Day of Caring Program on Thursday, Oct. 29. They split up into groups and head out to several locations to serve for an entire morning. This year's recipients of the school's volunteerism included the Greenvale School, TAP, Friendship Manor, the Adult Care Center, Northwest Child Care, and Family Services in Roanoke.

Students helped and interacted with people of all ages in all kinds of fun and different ways, like holding a talent show for the folks at the Adult Care Center, painting pumpkins with residents at Friendship Manor, and playing with the kids at the Greenvale School.

Visit The Notebook on on sosalem.com for two slideshows: the first is of three different volunteer locations and are courtesy of Chuck Lionberger with Roanoke County schools. The second slideshow is by So Salem and is of the talent show at the Adult Care Center.

Roanoke County teacher wins state technology leadership award

Meg Swecker, instructional technology resource teacher for Roanoke County Public Schools, has received the 2009 Virginia Technology Leadership Award from the Virginia Department of Education. Swecker also was recognized as the Region Six Educational Technology Leadership Award winner. The awards were presented Oct. 30 during the annual Educational Technology Leadership Conference in Richmond.

The Educational Technology Leadership Awards, presented annually, acknowledge outstanding school division leadership in education technology planning and implementation. Division superintendents in each of VDOE's eight study regions select individuals for the award. Recipients are chosen for their success in helping school divisions improve teaching and learning through the use of instructional media and technology.

"Meg is completely committed to teaching technology to our students," said Roanoke County Public Schools Director of Technology, Dr. Jane James. "She strives to help teachers integrate technology into everyday lessons to enhance and expand learning," James said.