“Not one more. Not on our watch. Not one more.”
That was the message delivered at the Drug Free Communities of Dallas County Thanksgiving luncheon Nov. 15 at R. B. Hudson Middle School.
Drug Free Communities Executive Director Jerria Martin led the chant in response to the recent death of a Selma High School student that is suspected to be drug related.
Martin said to Selma City School Superintendent Zickeyous Byrd, “We are with you. We stand by you.”
Drug Free Communities of Dallas County will reassess their action plan and get even more involved in the community, Martin said. Martin reported her group of Hope Dealers will be going to Washington DC to be honored and to learn more about fighting substance abuse.
Selma High School Sophomore Sydney Pritchett, one of the Jr. Hope Dealers who works with Drug Free Communities, said the community must get involved and intervene in drug prevention “as early as middle school.”
“Early prevention is the key; education is the key,” Pritchett said. “Substance abuse prevention aims to prevent the use of drugs by our youth. By sharing this knowledge with those closest to us, we may be able to prevent them from doing drugs.”
“I’m willing to do my part in educating and helping prevent drug use among my peers and my community,” said Pritchett, a straight-A student, president of FBLA and a member of the SGA. “So, my question to you is, what are you going to do?”
Martin said, “You know what my hope is? It’s in God and also in all these people in the room. If you look around at all these amazing community partners we have here today. We are the change that it takes. We have all the resources we need right here, and we have all the voices we need.”
During the luncheon, awards were presented to the supporters in attendance.
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