Safe and Drug Free Schools

We believe in focusing on what is right with a young person rather than on what is wrong. Resiliency research indicates repeatedly that when adults interact positively with young people, work on their strengths, build on what is going well, then not only are negative behaviors decreased but positive behaviors increase. Years of drug/alcohol, suicide, pregnancy and depression prevention have demonstrated that the absence of the negative does not guarantee the presence of the positive in young people. The Developmental Asset Framework by Search Institute itemizes 40 assets each young person needs to succeed. The work of Collaborative for Social and Emotional Learning (CASEL) provides further evidence that focusing on young people's social and emotional learning improves both their academics and behavior. This focus on the strengths of young people is broadly termed "youth development."

The Anchorage School District has a long history of site-based decision making. Since its inception, Safe and Drug Free Schools has mirrored this tradition. Each school is eligible for a SDFS mini-grant, which ranges from $1,500 to $5,500. During the 2008-09 school year, SDFS awarded over $155,000 in mini-grants. A team of professional youth development specialists are available to help each school develop effective, research- and outcome-based youth development strategies. Schools apply for mini-grants online via the ASD SDFS Data Port, a specifically designed Web-program that assists applicants in identifying their grant's need assessment, goals, objectives, activities, and evaluation outcomes. The SDFS Data Port guarantees that each school-based effort adheres to the Principles of Effectiveness.

Issued by the U.S. Department of Education Safe and Drug Free Schools Program in 1998, these principles are designed to help all Safe and Drug Free Schools become more focused and accountable. All ASD SDFS school-based efforts comply with the Principles of Effectiveness.

Research and experience demonstrated that a single youth development or prevention effort strategy does not work for all young people. Students without serious behavioral problems will respond to one kind of prevention effort, while youth with chronic problem behaviors will need more intense, specialized assistance. Using the Continuum of Effective Behavioral Support/RTI model, ASD SDFS works with schools to insure that youth development efforts appropriately match the needs of the young people involved.

The ASD SDFS staff is actively involved in the efforts of the Anchorage community to address youth development and alcohol, drug and violence prevention. The ASD Supervisor of Safe and Drug Free Schools is a member of the Juvenile Justice Working Group, a community coalition focused on juvenile justice issues. The ASD Supervisor is also founding member of the United Way of Anchorage Youth Development Coalition and the Robert Wood Johnson Reclaiming Futures Initiative. ASD SDFS staff are regular members of several other community task forces and boards including the YWCA and Akeela, Inc. SDFS staff participates in making presentations at local and national conferences including the American Education Research Association, Alaska Annual School on Addictions, the Search Institute Annual Conference and the Association of Alaska School Boards' annual meeting. ASD SDFS helps sponsor the Prime for Life intervention program for first time alcohol/drug abuse offenders in partnership with Volunteers of America.

A maturing body of research clearly indicates that a young person's relationship with adults at school is second only in importance to adults at home in its inoculating power for all high-risk behavior. While a school cannot change the home life of a young person, it can affect the quality of the interactions between adult and young people at school. The school climate and the young person's connections to adults directly influence whether a young person develops pro-social behaviors or high-risk behaviors. The ASD SDFS efforts seek to improve both the quality and quantity of adult-student relationships, as well as to help create a more positive, caring school climate for all. As we say, the person of the teacher is the loudest curriculum in the classroom.