Lenape district looking to continue promotion of Defy the Issue, anti-violence

The 2013–14 school year saw the Lenape Regional High School District put a major focus on violence and substance abuse prevention as well as focus on character building.

With the new school year just around the corner, the district hopes to expand its programs even further.

Chris Heilig, director of programs and planning for the district, said each of the four high schools is going to build off last year’s Defy the Issue programs and continue promoting an anti-substance abuse message within its own communities.

Last year, Defy the Issue was about education. The district brought in Chris Herren, a former NBA player and heroin addict, to talk to the students about the dangers of substance abuse.

“Our mission with Defy the Issue was to bring that issue to the forefront,” Heilig said.

This year, Heilig said the students will continue to be proactive in this respect. Each school will continue to participate in Project Purple, where they take an oath to not use drugs and alcohol.

There are also programs where students are teaching their younger peers about substance abuse. The Seneca Drug Squad is a group of students who have taught younger students in local communities a similar lesson they have learned from Herren and Defy the Issue programs.

“All of these students are specially trained to convey that same message,” Heilig said.

Moving forward, the district is looking to expand a number of school-specific programs, such as the Green Dot program at Shawnee High School. Green Dot is a nationwide organization dedicated to promoting non-violence through local communities.

“Shawnee collaborates with Contact of Burlington County for the program,” Heilig said.

Shawnee is continuing to participate in Green Dot in 2014–15. Heilig said the district might look at expanding it to the other three high schools sometime in the future.

The district’s proactive approach has paid off in a number of accolades. At last week’s board of education meeting, Heilig announced the Anti-Defamation League has given all four high schools a No Place for Hate designation for the second consecutive year, which he said is indicative of how much the district focuses on character and community building, especially from the perspective of the Anti-Defamation League.

“This is just part of what contributes to the culture of the schools,” Heilig said. “It really works well with our other systemic initiatives.”

The district hopes to continue expanding its Senior Day of Service projects this year. Last year, seniors participated in projects at 90 different sites throughout South Jersey.

The projects were not just limited to Lenape, Cherokee, Shawnee and Seneca. The Sequoia Alternative Program also participated in a variety of activities last year, including work at the Dr. James Still House in Medford and the Animal Adoption Center in Lindenwold.

Matt Webb, the director for the Sequoia Alternative Program, said the feeling of community and service has greatly helped the students participating in the program.

While there are no plans for the district to bring in a speaker such as Herren this year, Heilig believes the students are ready to take many of the messages they learned last year and further apply them this year.