September 30 – Youth are being exposed to potential dangers such as drugs and alcohol at a much earlier age than what has traditionally been seen. Cooperative Extension Program Family and Community Health Agent in Wharton County, Kashara 

Bell, made an outstanding effort in tackling this issue by hosting a Heroes for Health workshop geared toward educating youth

 on drug and alcohol awareness.

For this program, Bell partnered with the Wharton County Police Department who brought special K9 police dog, Officer Beemer, along with Officer Mark Biskup and Officer Bill Holt. The officers gave a presentation at the El Campo and Louise Library about the risks and effects of indulging in drugs and alcohol. K9 Officer Beemer gave a show by demonstrating his training to detect illegal substances simply y sniffing through various objects. Another exercise Bell presented was comparing the types of drugs and what they could look like. This showed participants the many ways drugs can be concealed to look like any other everyday items such as medicine or candy. The students were very intrigued and entertained all while learning about such an important topic.

Although Wharton County is a tight knit community, drug awareness is an important factor and it is important to begin awareness in youth, especially to the fourth grade group of students who participated in the program. The students enjoyed every second of the presentation and gained vital information about staying away from drugs. Bell shared, “The students were surprised about what smoking could do to your body and what alcohol could do. We had comments like, ‘I didn’t know that drugs were a big deal.” A lot of the kids were around fourth grade

[age level] and they knew about drugs but they didn’t understand them or know what was so bad about them.”

Every participant left with a drug free coloring page, sticker, pencil, and drug free pledge. Again, a special thank you to the officers from the Wharton County Police Department!

This work was supported by the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture, 1890 Extension Formula Program projects under Section 1444.

By: Kashara Bell and Taelor Smith

Kashara Shelton

Kashara Bell
CEP Family and Community Health Agent, Wharton County
kashara.bell@ag.tamu.edu
(979) 532-3310