It is a fact that our children will be offered alcohol, tobacco and other drugs, often many times, starting in middle school and continuing through high school. What can you do about this? Learn about substance abuse and gain the knowledge and skills needed to keep your children safe.
Ginger Katz, CEO and Founder of the Courage to Speak Foundation and author of Sunny’s Story, will present The Courage to Speak Presentation on Thursday, Nov. 13, at 7 p.m. at John Lewis Childs School, 10 Elizabeth St., in Floral Park. All sixth graders and up along with their parents are invited to attend.
“Even if you think your child will never do drugs, it is important that you find out what their peers are doing and everything they are being exposed to” states Katz, who in 1996 lost her son Ian to an accidental drug overdose when he was just 20 years old.
The Courage to Speak Presentation empowers students, parents, educators and others to break the silence surrounding drug use and find healthy solutions in their schools and communities. Katz has delivered this real-life story with its prevention message in mopre than 1,000 presentations in schools, communities, and state and national conferences across the country.
The Courage to Speak Foundation works with experts in the prevention field to develop programs that address youth substance abuse, which have been scientifically evaluated by Yale University. The Courage to Speak Drug Prevention Education Program includes distinctive programs for elementary, middle and high schools and Courage to Speak—Courageous Parenting 101, a free multi-session course that educates parents and provides them with knowledge and tools to keep their children safe.
Katz is the author of the book Sunny’s Story, narrated through the eyes, ears and mind of Sunny, the family beagle. Sunny’s progression through the ups and downs of life with his young master Ian, beginning with their meeting at an animal shelter and ending with a futile effort to ward off disaster, provides a moving ground on which to deliver a serious message of relevance to all age groups. Sunny’s Story is read at dinner tables, schools, and libraries across the country and as part of the Courage to Speak Foundation drug prevention education programs. Books will be available at the presentation.
The Courage to Speak Presentation is being sponsored by The Michael Vincent Previti Memorial Foundation founded in memory of Michael Previti, who passed away on March 2, 2011 from an accidental drug overdose when he was just 21years old. Michael attended both JLCS/FPBS and then went on to attend Floral Park Memorial HS. He was a talented athlete who loved baseball and football.
“By inviting Ginger Katz and The Courage to Speak Foundation, I hope to help raise awareness of the dangers and potentially fatal results of substance and alcohol abuse within our adolescent community,” states Michael’s mother Lisa Previti. “When our children are faced with the challenges and struggles of daily living, the choices they make could potentially save their own lives and perhaps the life of a loved one.”
For information contact Lisa Previti at 516-445 9858 or lpreviti@aol.com.
Visit www.couragetospeak.org or Facebook “The Michael Vincent Previti Memorial Foundation,” or contact Colleen Martin at cmartin@floralpark.k12.ny.us.
