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| 23 August 2001 - Alpine Sun Alpine teens learn by doing… By Chris MacKenzie ALPINE – Learn by doing! That’s what the young people who are the Youth Component of the Substance Abuse Prevention Team organized by the Alpine Community Center, are practicing. The 15 young middle school kids who attended a leadership training workshop at Casa in El Cajon this summer, have already put their training into action. The Community Picnic and Dance scheduled for Saturday night, Aug.25 from 4 to 8 p.m. at the Community Center is a good example. With eighth grader Tina Lujan as chair, they have planned, organized and even calculated the expenses of the event. The workshop taught them skills for leadership, fund raising, solicitation, marketing, shopping for bargains, and staying within a budget. The result promises to be a fun event. There will be lots of entertainment, picnic type food and beverages, games, music, and later dancing in the teen center on the new tile floor. Gym Trix will perform, as well as, the Dance Machine group. Celia, the popular bluegrass singer and Thunder Rose will be on hand. “We’ve had a lot of help from the merchants and people,” said Tina, explaining that she and the vice president of the group, Jackey Mercer did a lot of the planning, with seven or eight of the others pitching in too. “A couple of the men from Kiwanis are doing the cooking for us,” she added, “but the kids are taking orders and serving. They’re running the games too, like the pool tournament. It’s a lot of work but it’s going to be a lot of fun.” Tickets to this outdoor party are $5 for those 5-17 years of age, $10 for adults, and kids four and under free. The ticket includes everything except the rock wall climbing and the Astro Jump. The young committee members figured out that they couldn’t afford those rentals but wanted to include these attractions anyway, so there’ll be a nominal extra charge to use them. Dancing starts at 6 p.m. with a deejay from the Sound Track in charge. For those who want to come just for the dancing, the ticket is $2.50. The Substance Abuse Prevention Program can also claim another success for their efforts. Several weeks ago, two different beer companies put their ads on Alpine Boulevard billboards. While the message was ostensibly directed to adults, there was a subliminal impact on youth, since the boards are only a short distance from the Alpine Elementary School. The team, including the youth members and adults, Theresa Johnson, Lt. Linda Fulton, and Cristy Taylor contacted the companies, pointing out the inappropriateness of their chosen sites, and persuaded them to remove the ads. These active youngsters will also attend a second workshop, this one on media advocacy. It is intended to teach them how to speak to the media, get their message across, and how to stay in focus on what they want media to help them accomplish. |
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