At the time of this writing we are wrapping up the last of the Fall Retreats for the 2009-2010 school year. It has been a great privilege to be a part of the retreats and to see Natural Helpers in action. It is no wonder why your peers nominated you to be part of the support structure for your school communities. You are all very inspiring indi-viduals and offer a great ser-vice to your schools.

This year is shaping up to be another tough one economi-cally. School budgets have become increas-ingly stressed as the overall economy has con-tinued to struggle. How-ever, we still had a healthy contin-gent of schools attend the NHM Retreat trainings. This is a testament to your school administrations for recogniz-ing the importance of what you provide for your school. They recognize that this is an investment that pays back as your peers get the support

they need when faced with personal issues. When a peer in need is linked up with someone who can help him or her, that is a situation that reaps important benefits for the overall school environ-ment.

One of the things that really struck me as I observed the Retreats was how a lot of the conversations focused around this concept of community. And when you boil down the Natural Helpers of Maine logic model, that is really what you are doing. You are

building community.

The research shows that a peer support program like Natural Helpers of Maine really can address some of the underlying conditions that contribute to red flags

like substance abuse, vio-lence, self harm, and risk of suicide. These underlying conditions include feelings of a lack of support, weak social networks, and feel-ings of isolation. When you listen to a peer, you are helping to improve that perception that there is no one there for support. When you initiate an action plan to bring people to-gether, you are working to quell feelings of isolation. When you hold school-wide events, you are help-ing to improve weak social networks. You ARE build-ing community.

I very much look forward to witnessing how the re-mainder of this school year unfolds. You all have come up with some very impressive action plans for the year. You all demon-strated some great listening and referral skills at the Retreats. I have no doubts that your schools will bene-fit greatly, once again, from what you bring this year. I wish you the best for the coming year. See you in the Spring, if not before.

-Scott M. Gagnon

NHM Coordinator

Fall Retreat Recap: 2009

News and Tidbits:

• This year we will have trained over 100 Natural Helpers at our Fall Retreats.

• We will be in contact soon with those who signed up to be a part of the Student Advi-sory Board. We will try to work out a time to meet either in person or online.

• We are hard at work on the Natural Helpers of Maine website. Stay tuned!

Retreat Recap 2009 1

Human Sculptures 2

“Influenced” A Youth-Led Movie Project 2

Natural Helpers Spring into Action 3

Natural Helpers of Maine on Facebook 4

Inside this issue: The Listener

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Volume 2, Issue 1

Fall 2009

movie short on the subject.

Over the course of the following school year, PSA creators Aleah Gra-ham and Josephine Cooper ages 12 and 14, worked with Project AWARE Play-ers, staff and experienced community members to create a 30 minute direct-

to-DVD movie. This dramatic movie “short” addresses youth issues such as prescription drug abuse, eating disor-ders, alcohol and to-bacco, with the focus being on how adult role modeling influ-enced the choices

young people made.

When Project AWARE hosted its sec-ond film institute last month it became a golden opportunity to support young people to really make a difference. 15 youth attendees were trained to crew the film shoot with Maine production company, GumSpirits . The movie, titled “Influenced”, is written, directed

and acted primarily by young people. Overall, over 100 cast and crew made it possible and it addresses an issue that concerns all of us – how parents model for their kids.

This is a great model of service learn-ing where teens put their creativity and ideas into action. Become a fan on Facebook and subscribe to the blog for updates.

Project AWARE Links - For more information and video go to:

Website: www.projectaware.net

“Untold Stories: the Truth about Bully-ing and Harassment www.untoldstoriesmovie.com

YouTube Channel: www.youtube.com/projectnaturalhighs

Facebook Fanpage: http://www.facebook.com/projectnaturalhighs

Blog and “Influenced” Movie Trailer: http://projectaware.net/wordpress/?p=153

Project AWARE has just released a trailer for it’s latest movie project enti-tled “Influenced”. This project focuses on raising awareness of the impacts of parental role modeling.

For over 5 years, Project AWARE has been providing programs and services to empower young people to take the lead on issues that are concerning them. This has included substance abuse, prescription drug abuse, bullying / harassment, teen pregnancy, media literacy, and more.

In the summer of 2008, Project AWARE held its first Summer Film Institute. Young people ages 11 – 19 created 3 powerful PSA’s about issues including peer pressure, teen preg-nancy, and role modeling. The PSA on role modeling was picked up by a local producer who offered to work with Project AWARE to create a dramatic

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“Influenced”: a Youth-Led Movie Project: Movie Trailer Released! By Carl Lakari, Project AWARE Coordinator

THE LISTENER

Human Sculptures from Natural Helpers Retreats 2009

Clockwise from top left: Falmouth High School, Deering High School, Greely High School, Casco Bay High School, Marshwood High School

VOLUME 2, ISSUE 1

An important part of the Natural Helpers of Maine Fall Retreat trainings is the ac-tion planning portion. Over the course of the 2 days, the Natural Helpers groups engage in two brainstorming sessions. The first it to identify the top 3 or 4 issues of concern in their school. The second, is to come up with strategies to address those issues. We, at Day One, continue to be very impressed with the action plans developed by the NHM school groups. They have yet again dem-onstrated a keen awareness of the issues of concern in their school. They also have displayed remarkable creativity in creating their plans to address these issues. Here are some strategies planned to be undertaken by our Natural Helpers groups in the coming school year. This is just one of the strategies that each of the schools will be developing this year.: Falmouth High School: Key Issue: Building Community Strategy: Have a Heart Day-Each person in school is given half a heart and they need to find the person with the other half.

Marshwood High School: Key Issue: Alcohol Use Strategy: Beer Goggles-An awareness activity for middle school students where they wear “beer goggles” and have them try to shoot baskets, walk, run, etc.

Deering High School: Key Issue: Drug Use Strategy: Assembly and Open House-Giving information to stu-dents and parents in ways that will get their attention using stories, music, etc. Casco Bay High School: Key Issue: Community

Strategy: Community Building-Develop events and strategies to bring groups of students closer together to build stronger sense of school community. Fort Kent Community High School: Key Issue: Stress Strategy: Relaxation Night-An evening of activities to teach de-stressing tech-niques and to provide a de-stressing envi-ronment. Greely High School: Key Issue: Impact of Divorce on Teens Strategy: Support Group-Provide a sup-port group for peers who have parents who are divorced or are in the process of

divorcing. Allow peers to voice how it is impacting them. Poland Regional High School: Key Issue: Substance Abuse Strategy: Bank of Statistics Develop a repository of statistics and other information on the prevalence of substance abuse and its consequences. Develop strat-egy to disseminate data in school. Scarborough High School: Key Issue: Substance Abuse Strategy: Message to Prom-Goers Hand out information to prom-goers on the impact of alcohol abuse and dangers of driving under the influence. Cape Elizabeth High School: Key Issue: Substance Abuse Strategy: Skits in Health Classes Write and perform skits around issues of substance abuse in Health Classes to raise awareness. Old Orchard Beach High School: Key Issue: Substance Abuse Strategy: Create a Video/Movie The Old Orchard Beach Natural Helpers are writing and producing a short film/video on the dangers of alcohol and driving under the influence.

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Natural Helpers Spring Into Action

Human Sculptures continued...

Clockwise: Fort Kent Community H.S., Cape Elizabeth H.S., Poland Regional H.S., Old Orchard Beach H.S., Scarbor-ough H.S.

About Day One: Day One is Maine’s leading agency dealing with teen drug and alcohol abuse.

Day One has been making a difference in the lives of youth for over 30 years. Our range of programs address youth substance abuse issues through prevention, intervention, treatment and aftercare.

Whether our services are required for an individual, a family, school or the wider community, Day One provides training and education, assessment, screening, referrals and treatment for all those in need regardless of ability to pay.

Our mission is to dramatically reduce substance abuse among Maine youth to help them live productive, healthy and reward-ing lives.

Day One 525 Main St.

South Portland, ME. 04106

WWW.NATURALHELPERSOFMAINE.ORG

If you are a part of the NHM program and wish to join the group simple click on the “join the group” link and the NHM Coordinator will approve you. You are welcome to share photos, stories, and other information about your experience as a Natural Helper.

One of the important aspects of the Natu-ral Helpers of Maine Retreats and Spring Conference is the opportunity for the Natural Helpers to network with each other. It is important for school groups to bond, but it is also important that Natural Helpers from different schools connect and share their experiences. There is a lot we have to offer and that we can learn from each other.

It is in this spirit that Day One has launched a Facebook page for the Natural Helpers of Maine program. There are actually two pages. We have the Fan Page where anyone in the program or in the general public can become a fan of the program. This is where we will share information to the broader community in Maine and share all of the wonderful things NHM does in the community. We also have the NHM Group Page. This will be exclusively for Natural Helpers, Adult Facilitators, and NHM staff.

In addition to the Facebook page, we are working on a stand-alone website for the NHM program. If you have any ideas or suggestions for the website please contact the coordinator at (207) 512-8921 or scottg@day-one.org

Natural Helpers of Maine is now on Facebook!

Coordinator: Scott M. Gagnon, MPP Phone: 207-512-8921 Fax: 207-767-0995

E-mail: scottg@day-one.org

Day One is a member of the

United Way of Greater Portland and the United Way of York County