6 Waldron High School Students attend Leadership Forum in Washington D.C.

White House: Brandon Freeman, Eric Vongphakdy, Rachel Tischer, Karla Mendez, Dylan Madden, James Bates, Warren Gasaway, Tyler Gasaway, Ethan Gasaway, and Elise Gasaway

On February 8, twelve Scott County Health and Education Coalition (SCHEC) members traveled to Washington D.C. for the CADCA National Leadership Forum at the Gaylord National Hotel and Resort. Six of the members that traveled are part of Bulldogs Against Destructive Decisions (BADD) at Waldron High School. BADD serves as the youth subcommittee for SCHEC. The members attended the Summit for Youth Leaders Workshop.During the workshops, the students and adults learned how to be leaders in their school and community as well as learning about alcohol, tobacco, and other drug prevention. Junior Eric Vongphakdy commented, �It was cool to see that there were so many other students across the nation who was making stands to be drug and alcohol free.� ��The students were part of a youth video during the week called "It's Our Time". The Waldron group of students made the stand, "It's our time to change the perception of 'cool'". Waldron's students networked with other students in the country to share ideas to change their communities.

The students were not able to sight see as much as they had hoped to due to the MAJOR snowstorm in D.C. All government buildings were closed, but the group was able to see the Capitol, Lincoln Memorial, Vietnam War Memorial, and the White House. One Smithsonian Museum, the Museum of Natural History was open and toured by the students on Thursday, February 11. To see pictures of the students' week in D.C., visit www.scottcountycoalition.com and SCHEC's Facebook fan page.

The trip to Washington D.C. was funded by the SPF SIG through the Arkansas Department of Human Services and SAMHSA. Contact Melissa Gasaway at 207-4177 or mkgasaway@hotmail.com for more information about SCHEC's efforts.

Camera: BADD students work on a video project at the Forum

Yellow Signs: SCHEC members take part in Capitol Hill Day at the CADCA Forum