The Monroe County Coalition for Drug-Free Communities gathered at the start of the month, with March’s gathering featuring a presentation by a student who’s been participating in the group’s youth-focused efforts over the past year.

Gracin Butler introduced herself as a freshman at Columbia High School. She and several other freshmen – along with one senior – make up the CHS student organization that is part of the coalition’s Operation Snowball effort, a push to have young people in the county lead the effort against drug and alcohol use among their peers.

These five CHS students attended a Snowball event through the Cebrin Goodman Teen Institute in January. Operation Snowball being a state and nation-wide program, this event served as a mid-year conference for Illinois youth participants, giving them an opportunity to touch base with other Snowball groups while also undergoing leadership training.

With the CGTI mid-year event in January, another CGTI event takes place in July as the primary conference.

Butler spoke about her experience at both conferences, offering an overview of her takeaways as she and her peers heard from speakers or participated in breakout groups.

Their time at the conference, as she explained, has already led to them pushing to have a wider effect on CHS.

“The main focus at CGTI is to spread positivity and inclusivity,” Butler said. “We started by having a kindness week over Valentine’s Day week, just brightening everyone’s spirits in the middle of February when it’s dreary and snowy.”

Butler added that, come next school year in September, her and the other Snowball students would like to put together a suicide prevention week and mental health awareness day.

They’ve also discussed the possibility of having a sort of mini-conference in Monroe County, bringing together students from the county’s four high schools to meet and hear from speakers.

Butler also spoke about plans to host a late-night sports event down the line, providing area students with the opportunity to have a recreational event with their friends outside of parties and away from any pressure to use drugs or drink.

“It’s for all high schoolers just to come and play games with their peers instead of being pressured to go to parties,” Butler said.

The coalition hosted such an event March 7 at the Monroe County YMCA, with students able to use the pool or play dodgeball and pickleball among other activities.

Butler noted the CGTI conferences and Snowball participation have also afforded her and the other Snowball students the opportunity to interact with peers in a comfortable setting, a big benefit given the social impact her generation has felt as the COVID-19 pandemic rocked their early education.

“It was really fun, but also it was a great experience to meet a lot of new people,” Butler said. “A lot of us struggle with social relations because of COVID during our prime years.”

Further conversation among those present at the meeting, including coalition Executive Director Monica Kirkpatrick, emphasized hopes for Operation Snowball to continue growing in the county.

With some Snowball presence already existing or in the works at Columbia, Waterloo, Valmeyer and Gibault high schools, a broad hope is for county youth to share their perspectives on drug abuse in the area and what can be done to curb it.

Kirkpatrick also spoke to some of the personal benefits students can enjoy as they participate in these Snowball efforts.

“There’s such an opportunity for them to have a big impact on their classmates and peers that I don’t think you get with every club and activity,” Kirkpatrick said. “The leadership skills, the organizational skills, the teamwork skills that you get from CGTI, priceless.”