The Monadnock region has a serious substance abuse problem. Our high school students have a higher incidence of substance abuse in some categories than the state average, and New Hampshire has a higher incidence rate in some categories than the national average. Our students are at risk, and Health Science Professor Marj Droppa and her students will conduct research during the fall semester to better understand and help reduce the problem. They will collect their data through interviews with Keene High School students and parents. “To change behavior, you have to change policy,” Dr. Droppa explained. So she and her students hope to gain insights into how and why Keene High students are misusing drugs and alcohol and then use that information to influence changes in the school district’s policy on this kind of abuse.

Dr. Droppa has planned this Keene High School Drug Project to be the curriculum for her Heath Science senior capstone course this fall. Instead of attending their first class on Tuesday, August 27th, her students will launch the study via a Substance Abuse Panel at 10 a.m. in the Alumni Center’s Centennial Hall. The panel will feature a variety of speakers—including Lynne Wagner, the principal of Keene High School; Cindy Stewart, a KHS parent; Chris Coates, chair of the Keene Board of Education; Chief Kenneth Meola of the Keene Police Department; Keene City Councilor Jan Manwaring; Matt Griffin, the former KHS school resource officer; Tricia Lucas, advocacy director at New Futures; Polly Morris, regional network coordinator at Monadnock Voices for Prevention; and Linda Rubin, community health expert—who will discuss the problems of substance abuse among our teens.

The panel is free and open to the public; students, teachers, parents, health professionals, law enforcement personnel, and anyone with an interest in this serious problem are encouraged to attend. Consent forms will be available for any KHS student or parent who would like to participate in the study.