Los Gatos Weekly-Times

Photograph by George Sakkestad

Blossom Hill third-graders Michael Floyd (left) and Matt Haven (next to him) create art that will be reproduced in place mats during National Drug and Alcohol Awareness Week.

TNT kicks off awareness week

By Shari Kaplan

In conjunction with National Drug and Alcohol Awareness Week, which runs from March 4 through 9, Community Against Substance Abuse is planning many activities and programs at local schools.

"We are quite concerned and want to reach as many kids as possible," said Sue Coates, Awareness Week chairwoman. "It's hard to figure out how to get kids educated about [substance abuse] and find things that cause them to sit up and take notice. What they do today can affect their lives forever."

Opening the week with a bang is a multimedia presentation titled "T-N-T: Today, Not Tomorrow." This 40-minute production combines video, still images and popular music on three screens to encourage students to feel more motivated and positive about their lives and the choices they make. A worksheet for students to fill out about themselves complements the presentation. The TNT presentations are open to the general public and are playing March 4 at 9:22 a.m. and 10:28 a.m. at Los Gatos High School and 1:25 p.m. and 2:20 p.m. at Fisher Middle School.

Students at both schools will also receive "Hot Line" cards, wallet-sized guides containing phone numbers and information on resources for those troubled by drugs, alcohol, domestic violence, sexual abuse, depression or other situations.

A wrecked car parked on the Los Gatos High School lawn all week will serve as a graphic testament to risks of drinking and driving.

Earlier this month at Blossom Hill School, third-grade classes designed artwork depicting healthy choices and drug-free lifestyles, which will be reduced and reproduced for use on paper place mats to be distributed in elementary-school cafeterias, at service club meetings and in local restaurants, including the Los Gatos Cafe.

Third-grade teacher Carol Adams, who helped students with the project, said many students chose to illustrate their favorite foods or favorite activities, especially family activities, such as skiing and bike riding.

"They picked things they feel they have some control over. They do better art if it's more personal to them. And kids absolutely love it when their artwork is taken seriously," Adams said.

All elementary-, middle- and high-school students will have the chance to show their art in a poster contest in which they depict healthy lifestyles or the unhealthy consequences of substance abuse. Posters will be displayed and voted upon in room L-7 at Los Gatos High School. Winners will receive cash prizes and gift certificates from local merchants.

As a culmination to Drug and Alcohol Awareness Week, CASA has brought back "Gym Jam" and is extending an open invitation to the Los Gatos community. On March 9 from 5 to 9 p.m., the Los Gatos High School gym and its vicinity will be the venue for a family fun night, including carnival-style games, community resource tables, mechanical bull rides, bands and skateboarding demonstrations.

Gym Jam chairwoman Pam Bancroft and fellow CASA member Kathy Tumason conducted three student focus groups at LGHS to find out how they could improve the Gym Jam. Among other things, students suggested more music variety and more fast food.

"It's an alternative evening away from drugs and alcohol. We expect to have more people than ever because the kids love it and they bring their parents," said Bancroft.

Over the eight years of Gym Jams, Bancroft said, annual attendance has been between 2,000 and 4,000 people.

Admission is free, as is the pizza and the ice cream being served by local "celebrity scoopers." Available for a small cost will be C.B. Hannegan's barbecue, fast food and smoothies. When Gym Jam ends, teenagers can convene at the Outhouse from 9 to 11 p.m. for dancing and socializing.

For more information about CASA or about any of the Awareness Week's events, call CASA Chairwoman Vicki Thorburn at 356-2689.