Thursday, November 29, 2012

The Wolf Pack

In this issue of Sound Off, we want to introduce The Wolf Pack, a group of high school students at CHRHS who serve as peer mentors to middle school kids to help them resist peer pressure to do drugs and alcohol

The Wolf Pack together for one of their regular after-school meetings
 
The Wolf Pack conjures up the image of a closely bound, fiercely loyal group and that's an apt description for these 15 kids who started a little more than a year ago, under the guidance of high school teacher Chris Audet. Last year, a Bangor Daily News article underscored how committed these teens are. They've not only taken a vow not to drink or do drugs themselves, but they also search for ways to exemplify for younger students how they can have a healthy, happy, and fun drug- and alcohol-free life throughout high school. We're going to meet several of them in this blog and see how they view their roles with the younger kids.




Camilla Walker
Q: What is the Wolf Pack all about in your words?
A:  The Wolf Pack is a group of high schoolers who go to the middle school every two weeks. We've all pledged to be drug and alcohol free and just show the younger kids that you can still be involved in high school and have friends and do fun things without being involved with drugs and alcohol.



Cailand Sweeting
Q: Why did you decide to be part of this group?
A:  I just decided to be drug and alcohol-free all throughout high school and I was already friends with some of the members and so, it was a really good fit.


Autumn Coyle
Q: What do you get out of working with middle school kids?
A:  They're just fun to talk to. I didn't think they were going to enjoy us coming there, but it seems like some of them really do. I just hope it changes the high school in the next couple of years.


Eddie McClusky
Q: What is satisfying to you about what you're doing after you've visited the middle school?
A:  I really like having deep discussions with the middle schoolers and I feel like I'm educating them about high school and about drug and alcohol in the high school. It's very satisfying. I think they definitely value our opinions. Basically what the Wolf Pack shows them is you can be cool without having to do drugs and alcohol.



Bekah Hilt
Q: What are some of the cool things you guys do that make the middle schoolers think, "Yeah, I want to do that."
A:  Well, we play games and we ask them about questions they have about drugs and alcohol and they're really good about it. They'll ask us examples like: "what if your friend is doing drugs or alcohol--do you tell on them or do you confront them?" We have to come up with really good answers--the right answers.

Adult Comment: This is an amazing group of students who really care about the health and wellness of their school and their community. I am lucky to be working with students of this magnitude.
-Chris Audet, Advisor 

1 comment:

  1. Always great to see young people who "have it together" and enjoy sharing it with others. Way to go!

    ReplyDelete