Making Plans and Having Conversations

January 24, 2020

In December, we were delighted to hear the news that according to the 2019 Monitoring the Future (MTF) survey, alcohol consumption continues to show significant longer-term declines among the nations’ 8th, 10th and 12th graders. For the three grades combined (8th, 10th and 12th) the proportion of students reporting lifetime, annual, past month alcohol consumption, and binge drinking are at or near the lowest levels since the study began (42 percent, 36 percent, 18 percent, and 9 percent respectively).

This news is encouraging. But our work is not done yet!

We are sprinting into 2020, diving headfirst into our projects and programs that help kids say “YES” to a healthy lifestyle and “NO” to underage drinking. We have so much in store for this year and have already begun working and planning for all that’s in store.

We are already back from our first trip of the year, having visited with educators and parents of 5th and 6th graders about how they start conversations with the kids in their lives. This wonderful information will help us as we finalize a new module that we will launch in the spring.

February brings our annual trip to CADCA where we will meet with prevention specialists from around the country about the materials they need to help educate the people they serve.

Also during February, we will salute school counselors and all that they do for kids in schools. National School Counselor week is February 3-7, we always look forward to the fun and uplifting social media during this week and seeing how much fun this important group of educators have as they perform their important work.

A few other things we are looking forward to this year include:

  • Continuing our partnership with Discovery Education—we are entering our second year of activation!
  • Celebrating the Olympics—we will be keeping up to date with Classroom Champions and cheering on their athlete mentors as they prepare for Tokyo.
  • Growing our community—to include even more parents and educators interested in preventing underage drinking
  • Traveling to new places to learn more about how kids take in information and to share all of our resources.

And of course, we look forward to having YOU with us as partners in eliminating underage drinking.