Emphasizing the importance of student leadership, the Monroe County Coalition for Drug-Free Communities met earlier this month to talk about Operation Snowball and some of the progress currently being made in some county schools.

The guest speaker leading much of the discussion at the Oct. 6 meeting was Columbia Student Resource Officer Tyler McWhorter, who spoke about his involvement in coalition efforts over the past few months.

Specifically, McWhorter spoke about how he accompanied two students from Columbia and two from Valmeyer to the Cebrin Goodman Teen Institute’s summer conference at Eastern Illinois University.

CGTI serves as a gathering for youth leadership training, as McWhorter described.

“While we were there, they call in speakers around the country, training kids on general leadership, and then they tackle specific topics with mental health, substance abuse, they also spoke with peer-to-peer help,” McWhorter said. “And then Operation Snowball was a part of that as well.”

He spoke positively about the conference, with students attending various classes and adult sponsors – including counselors, teachers and other figures – participating in training to support their students in their leadership efforts.

McWhorter especially noted the progress that was made in giving students a wider perspective. Connections were built between the Columbia and Valmeyer students, but they also seemed to gain an appreciation for the scope of issues facing young people.

“A lot of what they told me was that they were breaking down and kind of realizing that their problems weren’t just their problems, and it was a wide-scale thing where they could connect with a whole bunch of different people, and even though they weren’t necessarily from the same place, their issues were very similar to other places’ issues,” McWhorter said.

Beyond the conference and focusing on Columbia, McWhorter spoke about how a Snowball group has been established at Columbia High School, with students looking at data from the Illinois Youth Survey and offering their takeaways.

“Mental health, substance abuse and diversity were the three areas that they wanted to focus on changing or impacting positive change,” McWhorter said.

Regarding substance abuse, alcohol is a major concern. McWhorter noted how data indicates 69 percent of parents of 12th grade students provide students with alcohol and 33 percent of eighth grade parents do similarly.

Students, per McWhorter, identified this is as a key issue and decided to develop an education piece detailing the risks and issues exposing youth to alcohol can cause.

Students also spoke about providing various spin-off gatherings for events like prom or homecoming where youth can get together in places without being exposed to alcohol.

On diversity, students expressed interest in bringing in a number of speakers of different backgrounds to share their perspectives and experiences with youth, akin to the experience at the CGTI summer conference.

Collaboration between the Columbia, Valmeyer, Waterloo and Gibault Snowball groups was also discussed, getting students from around the county together for a sort of mini CGTI.

Coalition Executive Director Monica Kirkpatrick spoke up to note that retreats at Camp Wartburg were being discussed as a possible option for such a CGTI event.

McWhorter went on to discuss the students’ thoughts on mental health in the county, considering options for education and voicing interest in teen mental health first aid classes so they might educate themselves and then go on to share with other students.

He further spoke about his work with students in Columbia, noting that about 15 students from the high school are interested in being closely involved in the Snowball group, with a smaller group of leaders hoping to bond this semester, participating in a leadership summit in Red Bud and also considering attending the CGTI mid-year conference in January.

As she led the conversation and responded to what McWhorter shared, Kirkpatrick emphasized the importance of the youth leadership effort.

“We really want them to have the loudest voice here,” Kirkpatrick said. “What do they want to do? What do they feel like they’re seeing in their school that they want to change?”

She and Coalition Youth Director Christy Gardner spoke generally about ongoing activity and future hopes for Snowball groups in each of the county’s high schools.

Gardner also noted how the current focus is placed on Operation Snowball for the teenage students as they participate in the CGTI conference and stay active throughout the year, though there are also the Snowflake and Snowflurry programs for younger students.

Kirkpatrick also spoke about plans to establish out-of-school events and activities for students to enjoy rather than going to parties with alcohol as the Columbia students had discussed. 

Keeping students occupied during the summer was a particular concern.

“The summer is where we kind of worry a little bit,” Kirkpatrick said. “Summer time can be a time where it’s a little bit more high-risk, if you will. Let’s give these kids something to do after dark.”

Broad ideas she brought up included a game night in the park or an open mic night.

As the Columbia students had spoken about their takeaways from the Illinois Youth Survey, Kirkpatrick also noted Monroe County is no longer participating in this survey due to local issues with some questions on the survey pertaining to subjects like gender identity.

Kirkpatrick said that while this lack of participation presents some problems when it comes to gathering data locally, it provides Monroe County the opportunity to conduct its own survey, focusing on questions and topics of importance to this area.

Per Kirkpatrick, Regional Superintendent of Schools Kelton Davis and the Regional Office of Education are currently working toward such a survey.

“It gives us an opportunity to focus our questions more,” Kirkpatrick said. “What questions do we really want to know? What questions do we really need data on? And then not to do it every two years but to do it every year.”

Concerning the work of the coalition overall, Kirkpatrick spoke about hopes for developing the group now that she and Gardner are serving as directors.

Plans include starting a monthly newsletter, featuring a guest speaker at each meeting – including students involved in Operation Snowball – and generally growing by inviting figures and citizens from all parts of the county.

“You don’t have to be a professional to be in this meeting,” Kirkpatrick said. “We want as many people from different sectors as we can get.”