Seventh grade students on the Navy Team are serving as the pilot group, since research literature documents a greater level of success in drug prevention programs which target this age group. There are three components to the program which was created using a high-risk youth grant awarded in 1995. First, Project Alert drug prevention curriculum is delivered by staff members from the East Texas Experiential Learning Center in collaboration with the teachers form the Navy Team. Forty-five minutes per week, students are educated against the use of alcohol, tobacco, other drugs, and inhalants. Students, through concrete community service activities in a cooperative learning format, gain environmental awareness, build capacity for socially-desirable behavior, and develop problem solving skills.
Extensive planning precedes each activity to insure student success.
This semester, TJR Navy Team students have completed a total of four visits to the City of Nacogdoches Animal Shelter and North Street Veterinary Clinic. These plants will be transplanted this spring at the E.J. Cambell Community Center building to complement the community clean-up the students performed there earlier this school year. The six remaining afterschool sessions have been initiated at the SFA Challenge Course where the students are engaging in rope activities on the outdoor climbing tower. This phase of the program is intednded to foster personal confidence, as well as, collaborative teamwork and mutual trust. Under the supervision of Kirk Evans, who is employed by the learning center, college work-study students and volunteers from the forestry department are assisting the seventh graders in their physical pursuits.