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PROJECT DESCRIPTION:

    The Sidney High School's “Trading Card Program,” is not just about promoting a drug, alcohol, and tobacco free lifestyle.  It is about developing good character and positive choices by high school students, as well as with the fourth grade students that we work with.  After all, fads and organizations that promote this message come and go but wisdom and character that is developed will be life-long skills.  By developing character, we hope to provide these students with a skill that will help them make wise choices in life beyond high school, and to help them cope with the pressures put upon them by their peers. 

    Our program is currently in its seventh  year, and consists of 32 members.  Each member will have 70 cards made with their pictures, activities and positive motto printed on them to distribute to the fourth grade class. Each member gets to keep 10 of them.  The fourth grade students are encouraged to collect and trade the cards of the members and to try to get one card of each member. 

    The heart of the Trading Card program is for high school members to volunteer to make a commitment to remain drug, alcohol, and tobacco free and to interact on a personal level with the fourth grade students.  If they violate this commitment, they are expected to remove themselves from the program and approach each student who has their card, ask for it back and explain to them why they made the decision that they made.  To date, we have had only one student who has violated the program rules and who has had to complete this process. 

    The high school students, through individual and group activities, interact with the fourth graders to encourage them to remain substance free but also to be a good friend and to make informed and wise choices on a variety of subjects.  The group activities take place in the classroom through tutoring exercises, reading activities, after school through movies or clubs, and at recess and during lunch. 

    Fourth grade teachers will handle distribution of cards by rewarding good character and positive behavior in the classroom.  For example, when a student helps another student or the teacher, they will receive a card for their efforts.  The elementary and high school administrations are very supportive of this program and the messages that it promotes.  To this end, they allow the students time away from classes to interact with the younger students.  We currently have tutoring spots and 30 recess spots per week open for members to invest time with the fourth graders.  We also have one group day per month for activities. 

    This project was started in August of 1998, when a group of high school students who had attended an Aim Higher workshop were presented with idea.  They came back to school and laid the groundwork.  In September of that year, the applications were made available and fifteen members were chosen for the program.  In May of that year, the process was repeated and twenty-nine members were selected.  A meeting to introduce the program to the fourth graders is scheduled for October every year and Red Ribbon Week is the big kick-off of the program.  A banquet at the end of the year is scheduled to celebrate the successes of the program and to evaluate what changes are needed to take place.  A celebration is also scheduled with the fourth grade students to thank them for participation.  

COMMUNITY NEED:  

The Sidney High school “Trading Card Program” is intended to address the substance abuse/usage problems of Sidney Montana, a small rural community in the Eastern part of Montana.  The program provides alternative activities for high school and elementary students to drinking, smoking, and using drugs.  The program emphasizes positive behaviors by both the high school and elementary students.  The program will also develop positive high school age role models for the elementary students to interact with and respect.

The program will encourage more high school students to remain alcohol, tobacco, and drug free.  The program will be positive example to the younger students and make them aware that their choices are meaningful in their lives.

LEARNING:  

The high school students will learn how to interact in a positive way with the younger children and how the decisions that they make can impact more than just themselves.  They will learn how to present information and materials to groups of children.  The high school students will learn how to be accountable for their behavior and choices to other members, their advisors, the teaching staff, and the children.  The students will also learn how to deal with consequences of inappropriate behavior.  The high school student will learn the importance of setting goals and how to organize a program in a team effort.

The elementary students will learn the importance of being drug, alcohol and tobacco free.  They will also learn that there are older students who choose not to use drugs, alcohol and tobacco.  They will learn the importance of good character, positive behavior, and how their choices and actions can affect themselves and others for life.  They will learn, through demonstrations by the high school students, the importance of cooperation and tolerance.

STUDENT PARTICIPATION:  

    High school students will be selected for the program through an application and interview process.  The fourth grade students were targeted by the trading card member because of the influences that start affecting their choices at this age and because the message will be followed up by the D.A.R.E. program in the following years.