Brown County High School is bringing awareness to students about the dangers of fentanyl and substance abuse with a video project made by students called “FentAlert: Empowering Youth For Safer Choice.”

A group of BCHS students were asked to submit a pitch alerting the student body of the dangers of fentanyl and submit it by Feb. 26. Now, the challenge owners are in the process of selecting a video they’d like to promote and buy it from the creators.

“FentAlert” was created by a U.S. Government Agency called the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, also known as SAMHSA.

Dr. Sandy Washburn is the Social Emotional Learning coordinator for BCHS and the lead mentor for the project. She meets with the students during lunch to discuss their plans and strategies for making an extraordinary pitch.

“The ultimate goal is that each student submit an individual or team project to SAMHSA by the deadline,” Washburn said. “However there are lots of other goals.”

Some of those other goals include learning about fentanyl, marketing campaigns, how to use the data given and learning how to collaborate with other students.

Washburn said she hopes that the students working on the project at least feel, as the creators of their campaigns, that they are being of service to the community.

“It appears that fentanyl is going to be around a while,” Washburn said. “Deaths involving fentanyl for this age group increased by almost 200 percent. I think it’s possible that many young people here, and anywhere, do not know that fentanyl is being put into other substances, including fake prescription medication.

“I think it’s just cool that there is a group of multi-aged students interested in taking on a project like this,” Washburn added.

BCHS students have the opportunity to bring the awareness needed of fentanyl dangers to their communities by competing in this project. They have the chance to make even the slightest difference in the lives of their fellow students by providing the needed safety measures to protect them.

Lillee Sheckles is a senior at Brown County High School and offers regular reports on happenings in the school. Stay tuned for her story next week when she talks to students about this new program.

Lillee Sheckles is a senior at Brown County High School and offers regular reports on happenings in the school. Stay tuned for her story next week when she talks to students about this new program.