The meetings are held by the organization EMQ Children & Family Services as part of a program called Addiction Prevention Services.

The nonprofit organization has provided two counselors at each of the schools to help teenagers at risk for drug addiction, as well as to educate parents and teachers about how to detect when a child is using drugs or headed in the wrong direction.

This service is just one program offered by EMQ, which also provides mental health and social services for children with serious emotional difficulties who live in Northern California.

EMQ provides services based on a school's request, and at Willow Glen middle and high schools the request was to assist in parent and teacher training, a health week and small-group classes that pertain to high-risk areas. The small groups—also called High Risk Adolescent Prevention (HiRAP)—consist of students targeted by teachers to participate because they detect the possibility high-risk behaviors that might lead to drug use, gang affiliation, eating disorders, bullying other students or depression, says Addiction Prevention Services Program Supervisor Janet Pullen. The students can also voluntarily join the group.

There are two groups with 10 students in each at Willow Glen Middle School that meet for one period once a week for 10 weeks.

"This is a safe place where they can share what they're going through, and nothing can be talked about outside the room," says Earl Kelly, 41, who was an EMQ counselor at the middle school for three years and is at the high school this year. "I listen to them to build a culture of trust. I also share what I've been through so they know people who have made it through tough times."

Kelly found out about EMQ nine years ago when his family went though a program similar to HiRAP, called Kids are Special, which caters to children ages 5 through 17.

He joined the program because his alcoholic wife left him and his 18-month-old daughter approximately nine years ago.

"It was a nightmare," says Kelly, recalling the incident. "We were in Santa Cruz and had no family there. My biggest fear was that my daughter would get into alcohol and drugs later in life. So we were referred to EMQ."

Kelly, who used to drive big rigs before pursuing his passion of working with children at EMQ says, "It was so awesome because it opened up pathways for my family and offered ways to change. Without EMQ we wouldn't be where we are now. My daughter, who is now 10 years old, has a good understanding of drugs and alcohol."

And that kind of education about how to stay away from drugs is what Kelly hopes students will learn through the addiction prevention program at the schools.

"We want them to know they might get offered pot and also that it's illegal and shuts down parts of their brain," says Chris Attwood, 42, who counsels groups at the middle school. "We don't tell them not to experiment because we know many will, so instead we educate them, fill them in on the risk factors and tell them, 'This is your decision.' "

Attwood says some students in his groups, like himself, come from families with alcoholic parents where the father has "angry rages."

The group deals with anger by encouraging students to express their feelings with friends and a safe adult.

While Attwood says marijuana is the most popular drug at the middle school, Kelly says alcohol as the "drug of choice" at the high school.

The most successful experience was when a group of high school boys who used alcohol at parties on the weekend decided by the sixth week of the group to keep each other sober, Kelly says.

"It chokes me up because these kids gave each other tips about how to stay sober, and they were honest if they slipped," Kelly says.

Rather than punish bad behavior, the program works by focusing in on students' strengths. One boy was having trouble with grades in school but was passionate about public speaking so he led the small group about avoiding peer pressure, Kelly says. A fellow group member had a bad relationship with his father but he liked cars so Kelly encouraged him to buy an old car that he and his father could restore together.

A few girls that were very social put positive energy into building a network of friends and helping them stay safe, healthy and away from risky behavior, Kelly says.

This also works with elementary school students that are part of EMQ's other programs, says Willow Glen resident and public relations director Kristine Austin.

"One kid was really good at running away from things, so we put him into track and field at school and now he excels at that," she says.

According to Addiction Prevention Services Coordinator Toni Welch, for every $1 spent on drug use prevention, communities save $4 to $5 in costs for drug abuse treatment and counseling.

The prevention program is funded by EMQ's Volunteers Inspiring People (VIP) League. Last year the league raised $190,000 at a fundraising event. That money paid for the organization to go into several schools. It costs $10,000 to work with one school per year.

But the program encourages prevention outside the school as well by educating parents and the community about drugs and the cycle of addiction in families.

According to the EMQ Addiction Prevention Services brochure, "kids who start drinking before the age of 15 are four times more likely to become alcoholics than those who begin at 21."

But aside from preventing alcohol and drug use, the group is just a place for the students to connect with each other.

"The most important thing is for the kids to know they really do matter," Kelly says. "We help make sure to stop a kid from getting into a cycle of addiction."

For middle school students, it's a "unique" opportunity to talk about what they're going through at home, Attwood says. He says many are too young to know that it's OK to talk with other people about things that are going on at home.

Pullen says, "For a lot of kids it's a revelation to see others talk about what they're going through. At first they think it's not normal, but then they get to talk about their lives and realize their family problems are not their fault."

For more information about EMQ Children & Family Services, 251 Llewellyn Ave., Campbell, call 408.379.3790 or visit www.emq.org.