youth conference

Getting Wasted vs Getting Hype!

The EPIC Assemblies team will lead this session and share their personal struggles and experiences with drinking and alcoholism. They will dive deep into the reality of peer pressure, relationships and the effects of underage drinking. This session will allow time for Q&A and will leave participants with real-life knowledge and the will power to stand up and speak out against underage drinking, as well as encourage their peers to do the same.

We ask that each participant only attend this session one time.

EPIC Assemblies

EPIC Assemblies is leading the industry as the premiere school assembly program in the United States. Our organization has been conducting school assemblies since 2002, and have tested and proven what works with students. Over the past two years of touring nationwide, EPIC Assemblies has impacted over 65,000 students by partnering alongside superintendents, principals, teachers, counselors and community leaders and we are seeing thousands of lives changed around the country.

EPIC (Empowering Performances Impacting Communities) is a team of 11 young adults who use their talents, as well as their real-life stories, to address many of the things that teens struggle with each day. Our intense and captivating production addresses bullying, alcohol and drug abuse, broken homes, mental health issues like depression and suicide and more. Our passion is to inspire students to talk about their struggles with trusted people instead of turning to destructive behavior and lifestyles.

EPIC Assemblies Keynote

EPIC Assemblies inspires students to TAKE OFF THE MASK and make positive life changes! Using the arts in a creative and compelling production of the cast’s real life stories, the team “takes off their masks” as they address an array of topics, including substance abuse, bullying and suicide.

Protecting Our Youth: Marijuana in Missouri

The potential legalization of marijuana is a pressing reality Missourians must face. With only a month to go before we find out whether or not marijuana will show up on the ballots this fall, now is the time for action. Join us in this presentation to learn more about the ballot initiatives and how you can rally your community members to work towards halting the pro-marijuana campaign. Presenter Zach Thornhill, a three-time national debate qualifier, will also discuss how to respond to difficult questions you might receive from audience members who are familiar with the pro-marijuana rhetoric. You’ll leave this presentation with the materials and knowledge you need to begin or advance a grassroots campaign to inform community organizations about the harmful effects of marijuana and what its legalization would do to our youth and our community.

Main presenter: Zach Thornhill, Lee’s Summit CARES

Zach is a senior at Lee’s Summit West High School. He is a member of the coalition Lee’s Summit CARES in Lee’s Summit, Missouri. Zach occupies his time at school in IB classes, debating, playing football, shooting trap, singing in concert choir, and overseeing the German Honor Society as its president. He is a three time national debate tournament qualifier and a state football champion. Outside of school Zach enjoys hunting, fishing, trapping or anything outside. He also enjoys watching sports, especially the Kansas City Royals, with his friends. Zach plans on attending the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in the fall. There he will continue his debate career and pursue a major in the field of criminal justice before attending law school in order to become a prosecuting attorney.

Schedule At-A-Glance with Speaker Descriptions

	Jefferson/Missouri/Capitol	Truman A	Truman B	Truman C
8:00am-8:45am	Registration
8:45am-9:00am	Welcome
9:00am-10:00am	Keynote: EPIC Assemblies
10:10am-11:00am	Getting Wasted vs. Getting Hype!	Advocacy – Prevention that Works!	Protecting our Youth: Marijuana in Missouri	What If...? Discover Possible
11:10am-12:00pm	Getting Wasted vs. Getting Hype!	Marijuana: What's the Big Deal?	The Purple Project Initiative	Building a Bridge to a Healthier Community
12:00pm-1:00pm	Lunch/Networking
1:00pm-1:50pm	Getting Wasted vs. Getting Hype!	High School Students Teaching Bully Prevention with Younger Students	Finding Your Family	Beating Heroin Takes a Community
2:00pm-2:15pm	Capitol Instructions
2:15pm-2:30pm	March to Capitol
2:30pm-3:00pm	Youth Awards at the Capitol
3:00pm	Dismissal/Meeting with legislators

Did You Know?

Most Missouri kids DO NOT drink? In fact, 85.61% of you have not drank in the past 30 days!
53.7% of you would definitely not drink alcohol if one of your best friends offered it.
68.2% think it is wrong or very wrong to drink alcohol.
The average age that a person first tries alcohol in Missouri is 13.43 or 7th grade.
Of the youth that reported drinking in the past 30 days, 22.8% of them reported at least one episode of binge drinking.

Look at how much has changed since the first annual Speak Hard (2004) and now!

	2004	2016
Average age of first drink:	12.17	13.43
Had a drink in the past 30 days:	30%	14.3%
Ridden in a car with someone who had been drinking:	23.4	14.4
Drove a car while drinking:	6%	4.4%

Source: 2004 and 2016 Missouri Student Survey

Building a Bridge to a Healthier Community

Join the ACT Missouri Youth Ambassadors as they share with you the building blocks to building a healthier, smoke free community. Receive a sample template to present to the city council, advertising ideas, and engagement strategies to ensure that your community thrives.

Main Presenters: Gunner Smith, Joe Viebrock, and Camren Worthley, Youth Ambassadors

The Youth Ambassador Program is designed to empower the youth of today to be the substance abuse prevention leaders of tomorrow. Through interactive exercises, comprehensive trainings, and targeted focus on community needs, the Youth Ambassadors develop materials and support regional centers and school programs to prevent substance abuse.

High School Students Teaching Bully Prevention with Younger Students

Members of the high school Bully Prevention Team will share the methods and effectiveness of teaching and demonstrating bully prevention strategies with younger kids ages 8 to 13. The presentation will describe how a selected team of older students is trained and prepared to provide effective, interactive classroom presentations and skits with younger students. Components of the classroom presentation will be provided and discussed.

Main Presenters: Jamie Myers, Prevention Consultants of Missouri
Hannah Pritchett, Kobe Wands, Chloe Myers, Rolla High School

Hannah, Chloe and Kobe are seniors at Rolla High School and have been presenters with the Bully Prevention Team for two years. They are all active in sports and other organizations at school and in the community. Jamie Myers is the director of Prevention Consultants of Missouri. He developed the Bully Prevention Team and has been working in the prevention field for over 25 years.

Finding Your Family

Everyone longs for a home. We are born with a need for family, for security, and for a place in this world. My workshop will help you understand how to heal and help family relationships that are hurting. We will tackle how addiction breaks down all the members of the family, and we will work together on building each other up and forming healthy, happy relationships with your family. Addiction is a family disease, but hope is there. Addiction might tear down, but recovery can make family relationships even stronger than before! I am proof of that. This workshop will help you find your family again.

Main Presenter: Dana Bowman

Dana Bowman is an English teacher at both the college and high school level. She is also a writer and speaker on the topic of parenting and alcoholism, with publication in The Fix, After Party Magazine, Today’s Christian Woman, and many more. Her book, Bottled: A Mom’s Guide to Early Recovery, narrates her story from addiction to recovery with humor and honesty. Dana speaks often at youth and family events about addiction and recovery, and it is her life’s mission to help others find hope and healing from this disease.

The Project Purple Initiative

The Project Purple is a group of students who pledge to stand up to substance use and enable themselves to make good choices in their lives and to work towards being who they want to be by providing alternative activities to do. The National Site provides activities, contests, videos, and all types of support for the group. It is a simple concept. Another draw to the initiative is the structure of the group, the kids do all the work, including coming up with creative ideas on what to do in the school.

The Project Purple is a National Initiative started in 2011 by Chris Herren and the Herren Project. The mission of Project Purple is to empower youth to stand up and make a difference. Going Purple gives students motivation and support as they embrace a message of education and awareness. Students learn that they do not need drugs and alcohol to meet life’s challenges; that they are perfect the way they are.

Michelle Irwin, MSAPA, First Call

Michelle Irwin, MSAPA, Outreach Specialist for First Call Alcohol /Drug Prevention & Recovery. I have been with First Call since 2008, providing Presentations, trainings, high school and community youth groups, marketing and special event services through out the community. I believe I have the best job in the organization because I get to work with young people and community members, educating on the substance use and the consequences along with prevention services and activities. I also get to promote all the wonderful work accomplished at First Call. When I am not working, I spend my time with my daughter and pursuing my love of equestrian sports.

What If…? Discover Possible

What If is a 45-90 minute presentation designed to inspire middle school and high school students to look beyond their current situations and to ask questions about the potential their lives may hold.The presentation equips students with a tool to help them make good decisions. What If prompts students to begin to think about their lives from new perspectives through the use of engaging questions, creative thinking exercises and interaction among students and educators.

What If is about the present and the future. It is not about the past in any way. It is not about things beyond our control. There are no questions about “what if I was born a different person?” or “what if my parents were rich?”. We have been shaped by events of the past, and what has happened in the past cannot be changed, but the future is full of possibilities.

Main Presenter: Brad Lademann, Missouri AfterSchool Network

Brad Lademann is a dynamic speaker with 16 years of public speaking experience and 12 years of experience working with middle school and high school students. He has worked with teens in many capacities including teacher, youth pastor, coach, and mentor. Brad worked with Communities In Schools (CIS) as the supervisor of an after school program for “at-risk” middle school students as well as CIS site coordinator for a Title 1 middle school. He currently serves as the Resource Center Coordinator for the Missouri AfterSchool Network. Brad lives in Columbia with his wife, three kids, and one extra large dog.

Taking ACTion to Build a Healthy Missouri