4/12/07

Clarendon Behavioral Health Services awards mini-grants

Submitted Photo

Scott’s Branch High School Senior Class Advisor Moses Levy and Assistant Principal Rosa Dingle will administer a mini-grant from Clarendon Behavioral Health Services designed to help keep kids safe during prom and graduation season.

Clarendon Behavioral Health Services (CBHS) is pleased to announce the award of $1,000 each in mini-grants to Clarendon Hall, East Clarendon High School, Manning High School and Scott’s Branch High School. The purpose of the grants is to assist the schools in providing alternative activities to help reduce the number of youth using alcohol and tobacco on their prom and graduation nights.

Prom and graduation are memorable for many high school students. There are some students who spend the entire year planning for these occasions. While these nights may be fun and exciting, our youth can also find themselves in dangerous situations. Some but not all youth experiment with alcohol or other drugs during prom and graduation. Safe alternatives are ways to keep our eyes on our youth and still allow them to have fun.

“Alcohol, tobacco and other drugs are detrimental to the future of our students,” said Rosa Dingle, assistant principal at Scott’s Branch High School. “We consider this initiative as one important step in deterring the use of alcohol, tobacco and drugs among our students.”

The risk of our youth getting in trouble or putting themselves in dangerous situations increases significantly after the prom or graduation. Hosting an after prom or graduation party with responsible adults as chaperones is a great alternative to keeping our youth in Clarendon County safe during these times in their lives.

“I would like to commend the schools on their efforts to help the youth of Clarendon County to resist the pressure to use alcohol and tobacco during prom and graduation,” said Ann Kirven, CBHS director. “We are pleased to assist in their efforts and hope that we can continue to provide a safe environment for our youth at this time in their lives.”

For more information about this and other programs of Clarendon Behavioral Health Services, contact Caroline Grant at 435-2121.