Salem Prevention Planning Team

Our Mission
To reduce substance abuse among youth in the Roanoke Valley by enhancing and improving the coordination of substance abuse education, prevention, and resources.

We are a coalition of citizens, parents and professionals from youth-serving organizations working together to promote the healthy development of youth.

VISION:

We envision a community that supports the development of healthy, successful, non-violent, alcohol & drug-free youth through education, leadership, advocacy, role modeling, collaborative planning and community action.

MISSION:

To identify Salem’s priority risk factors, make recommendations regarding the direction and use of substance abuse prevention resources and to advocate for healthy youth development services and resources.

Our efforts and resources are focused primarily on educating and mobilizing our communities, parents, and youth about the problem of youth substance abuse, and underage drinking in the Roanoke Valley.

RAYSAC was the recipient of a "Think Don't Drink" grant from the Governors' Office for Substance Abuse Prevention. The funds from this grant were shared by Roanoke City, Botetourt County, Craig County, Roanoke County and Salem.

The Salem Planning Team used the "Think Don't Drink" funds to promote the anti-underage drinking message to parents and youth throughout Salem

25 youth participated in the poster contest offered in art classes at Salem High School and Andrew Lewis Middle School. Five different posters were printed from the top five winning posters. 100 posters were printed and distributed to the following businesses- Black Cat Skateboard Shop; Frank’s Pizza;Salem Pizza and Sub; Salem Public Library;Mac & Bob’s restaurant; Salem Government Offices; Mill Mountain Coffee and Tea; Kids’ Stuff; Embroidery Concepts; Salem Market; Barker Realty; Salem Family Clinic; Skyline cleaners and Dr. Best’s office. A complete set of the five different posters were displayed at the Salem Family YMCA in the Teen Center. Approximately 840 teens came through the teen center during the two weeks the information was posted prominently on the main board.

The artwork of one of the youth winners from the poster contest was developed into a billboard The billboard was up in a heavily traveled area in Salem for 28 days. Based on Lamar Advertising numbers, the DEC (Daily Effective Circulation) or number of impressions per day of the billboard is 7,990. Based on a 28 day schedule, 223,720 adults 18+ would have had an opportunity to see the billboard.

The winners of the poster contest were presented their awards at a meeting of the City of Salem School Board.

Pictured front L to R- First place Lindsey Siska; Second place Kaitlyn Salvia; Third place Corey Tatarka(not pictured); Fourth place Kristen Borzotra; Fifth place Michael Repa

Back L to R; Curtis Hicks , Salem City Schools; Ray Bemis, Brooks Michael, Salem Prevention Planning Team; Mike Gibson, art teacher, Salem City Schools; Sally Southard, Salem City School Board Chair; Alan Seibert, Salem City Schools Superintendent.

A full page was purchased in the Salem Football program which included messages about underage drinking targeting parents. The football programs are distributed at home games with 200-250 per game (5 home games) to football fans and parents.

Additionally, 5000 exit coupons were handed out with the message for parents at three games of the Salem Red Sox.

The message on the Football ad and Exit coupons was:

A message from The Salem Prevention Planning Team IT’S TRUE:

More teens drink than smoke or use illegal drugs.
Teens don’t just drink; they drink alcohol dangerously to excess.
More than 1 in 4 Roanoke Valley high school students engaged in “binge drinking” in the past 30 days.*
Most teens report that alcohol is “fairly easy” or “very easy” to get, including 80% of Roanoke Valley high school students surveyed.*
Nearly 10.8 million youth, ages 12-20, are underage drinkers.

SO PARENTS, IT’S UP TO YOU:

Eat dinner together as often as possible.
Know your children’s friends.
Be a good role model.
Set clear rules for teens.
Talk to your children early and often, and keep on talking.

Parents have the greatest influence on a child’s life and whether their child engages in risky behavior or not.

As a follow up to the TDD grant, the SPPT purchased 100 posters with a message directed at parents about underage drinking to be used in a future campaign.

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Town Hall -YRBS Data

On November 10, 2009 the Salem Prevention Planning Team hosted a Town Hall meeting to present results of the 2009 Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS). Many members of the community attended the meeting including representatives from the Salem School Board, Salem Town Council, Parks and Recreation, and other interested community organizations and community members.