In a dimly lit room off one of the hallways at Fort Vancouver High School, two students filled small decorated pots with planting soil and tulip bulbs. They also planted promises.

“It’s a promise that you will make good decisions,” said student Vanessa Silva-Rodriguez, who joined the Grand Prevention Club this year.

The Great Prevention Club has been around for about a decade in Fort Vancouver. Members learn and teach other students and community members about substance use intervention and prevention methods.

“All the things we do to reduce substance use in our prevention efforts also reduce the impact of mental health,” said club advisor Alizz Quarles, “and the impact of academic failure, the impact of violence, the impact of unwanted pregnancies among children.” adolescence and many different things.

Quarles, an intervention and prevention specialist, has led the club for two years.

Last school year, the club implemented the Opioid Overdose Response Education Project. Members trained about 370 students on how to recognize the signs of an overdose and administer Narcan, an emergency treatment for an overdose or suspected opioid overdose.

Quarles said the Great Prevention Club plans to train new club members and community members this year on how to administer Narcan, also known by the generic name naloxone. She also wants the club to connect with those who run My Friends Are Not For Sale, an organization that is committed to education and awareness about reducing adolescent human trafficking.

Another event in the works will take place at one of Vancouver’s middle schools to talk about substance use during the transition from middle school to high school.

“It’s important for them to be informed about this topic and to know that there is a community where you can go and help raise awareness,” said third-year student Emaunie Bush, a member of the club.

At Tuesday’s meeting, Quarles and the students discussed their winter event, Cocoa & Caring. The club is still working out some details, but the hope is to offer cups filled with take-home cocoa packets and cards with ways to access resources, including a prevention hotline. suicide. They will be given to students going on winter break “because everyone’s home life is different,” Quarles said.

The Grand Club de Prévention also organizes lunches with a colored wheel with numbers on each color. Students line up and whatever number they throw, a question like “What is the Good Samaritan Law?” » Club members will provide the answer if the student does not know as well as information about the club and how to join.

Washington’s 911 Good Samaritan Overdose Act is about people who call 911 to try to save the life of someone who has suffered a drug overdose. Those who call will not get in trouble for violating drug laws.

At any time during the school year, students can join the club.

“We are not like the DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) program. We’re not here to scare you. We’re here to raise awareness,” said third-year student and club member Zamyrah Scott.

The group introduced school spirit days for Red Ribbon Week, during which students dressed in a different theme each day. The nationally celebrated week, which ran from October 23 to 31, demonstrates the importance of staying drug-free and making healthy decisions.

“If people don’t know what they can do and how they can respond, our club would like to give them the opportunity to empower them and educate them on what they can do,” Quarles said. “All lives have value.”