Winthrop Middle School Receives $11,000 Grant

The Winthrop Middle School is on the receiving end of an $11,000 Substance Use Prevention Curriculum grant, dedicated to educating students and providing them with resources surrounding substance abuse issues.

The state grant, which will be put to use starting in term two of the 2018-2019 school year, will be used to implement an evidence-based curriculum geared toward providing students in Grade 6-8, with the tools needed to decrease risk factors associated with early substance abuse.

“There are a lot of risk-taking behaviors at this age, especially with social media being so prevalent,” said Megan Knoster, WMS adjustment counselor. “Instead of waiting for something bad to happen, we want to take a proactive approach and continue what we did last year.”

The school’s interest in the grant was the result of a successful pilot program that was launched during the 2017-2018 school year. The program, which was implemented in terms two and three, offered classes for gym class students on inclement weather days. The curriculum incorporated lessons on pro social developmental education, identifying self-image, developing decision making skills and problem solving, coping with anger and anxiety, communication skills, building assertiveness, and conflict resolution.

The program, which is covered until 2020 and will run from mid-November until mid-March, is tailored to middle school students, and is part of Project Here, which is an innovative approach to making sure public middle schools in Massachusetts receives substance use prevention education.

“The biggest protective steps you can take in being preventative is providing accurate education and by showing the students the risks and giving them the support system for resources,” said Knoster, who wrote the grant with the help of other faculty members, at the end of the 2017-2018 school year.

Winthrop Middle School will partner with Community Action for Safe Alternatives (CASA) to execute the program. CASA will provide supplemental materials, a staff person who will come to the school and talk to Grades 6 through 8, regarding hot topics in the substance abuse field and answer any questions that the students have.

“I find that middle school is a really important age to start having these conversations,” said Knoster. “This is the age when they learn how to engage with other people and can become victim to peer pressure. They are presented with so much on social media that most students this age are well aware when a celebrity overdoses or there is something in the news involving substance abuse.”