Students at Bridgeport Exempted Village School District have taken to heart the message of staying clean. Members of the Belmont County Schools Staying Clean Club lined up at the concession stand for a chicken sandwich lunch April 3. The club aims to prevent drug use among the youth of Belmont County through outreach and incentives in the schools. The club also drug tests members. It operates under the juvenile court and Belmont County Juvenile and Probate Judge Al Davies.
Guidance Counselor Vicki Falcone said more than 80 Bridgeport High School students – over half – participate in the Staying Clean Club. Middle School Principal Anne Haverty Lawson said 118 out of her 160 sixth through eighth graders are also members.
The lunches were provided by the Hall of Fame Café. The cost was $10 each. Students also got an ice cream treat afterward from Jack’s Snacks.
Falcone said such rewards are made possible through funds raised by events such as the Belmont County Schools Staying Clean Car, Bike and Truck Show.
“We couldn’t do this without the generous donations of our community,” Falcone said. She added the club has benefitted school districts across the county.
“I’m not sure there’s another county that has a program like this,” she said. “With the direction of Belmont County Juvenile Court, Judge Davies and their support, this program would not be the great success it is today.”
David Carter, probation officer with the Belmont County Juvenile Court and secretary and treasurer of the club, said the Mental Health and Recovery Board of Belmont Harrison and Monroe Counties has also provided grants for catered lunches in all of Belmont County’s schools. He said Bridgeport students have been enthusiastic.
“It’s going really good at Bridgeport. We tested them three times this year. Their numbers I think go up every year,” Carter said. “Roughly half the high school kids that are eligible to join have joined, which is definitely very impressive, and of the middle school I’d say we’re over half.”
Carter complimented the outreach efforts of Haverty Lawson in encouraging students to join. He said the club is proving effective.
“We definitely are seeing less drug and alcohol cases in juvenile court. I think that’s a trend we’ve seen for the last several years and it continues,” he said.
“We’re not looking to funnel cases to juvenile court,” Carter said. “We rarely have a positive screen result, but if we do the parents are notified, that’s it. Charges aren’t filed. The school isn’t notified, resource officers aren’t notified. It goes to the parents and however the family decides to deal with that is up to them.”
Falcone agreed that the purpose of the program was not to “catch” students who are using drugs, but to provide positive reinforcement to stay clean as part of a preventative effort.
“It gives them a reason if they go off to parties and if they’re around something they might get involved in they can say: ‘I can’t. I might get drug tested.’ It kind of gives them an easy out,” she said.
Haverty Lawson said club membership arms students against peer pressure.
“Having raised couple of boys myself, I always wanted my boys to have a manner of saying ‘no’ to people asking them to do things they knew were not right,” she said. “I think the Staying Clean Club would have been great for my boys.
“I think the peer pressure is amped up to degrees I oftentimes can’t imagine, and I think it is an excellent manner in which our kids have the ability to say: ‘No.’”
She said this helps students avoid other habits such as vaping and smoking. She added seventh and eighth grade participants receive free passes to all athletic events.
“If you make positive choices, you will have a positive outcome,” she said.
Bridgeport High School Principal Jack Fisher is also supportive of his high school students who have joined the club.
“I am very proud of our students in the Staying Clean Club, both high school and middle school students. It’s great for our kids to be a part of this group and I’m also very appreciative to the juvenile courts and Hall of Fame catering for providing lunch to our students. It’s really great.”
Alexander, sixth grader, has been a member of the Staying Clean Club for one year. He said he enjoys the activities and is listening to the encouragement to stay off drugs.
“It’s an opportunity for me to do something,” he said. “I like it.”
Eighth grader Myzhara also believes in the club’s message.
“I think it’s important to be sober and not get involved in those things, because they do have negative consequences. They can affect your health and people around you,” she said. “From you being sober and not getting into drugs or alcohol or making better decisions.”
She recommends other students participate in the club and spoke about fun activities such as a trip to a bowling alley. During fall, the Bridgeport students joined those from across the county to listen to motivational speaker Derek Clark at the Capitol Theatre in Wheeling.
Myzhara said students can encounter challenging situations.
“If you’re around people who do those kind of things, you shouldn’t judge them. You never know what’s going on with a person. Unless they’re pushing you and peer pressuring you to do that stuff, get away from that,” she said, reflecting on the difficulty of watching someone harm themselves. “You can’t really change somebody’s decision about that. They have to do it themselves. They have to want to get off of it.”
Additional information about the club can be found at belmontcountyssc.org.
