Twelve members from the Lassen High School Violence Intervention Prevention (V.I.P.) club attended the first annual Life Skills Leadership Retreat at Burney Falls April 22nd thru 24th. In addition to taking in the beautiful sights and sounds of the falls and surrounding forest, club members participated in a number of activities geared toward developing leadership skills and building resistance to risky behaviors associated with transitional periods in adolescent development.
Club Faculty Advisor, Mindy Hilton was joined by members of the Lassen County Prevention and Education Program which is comprised of multiple local agencies whose goal is to reduce drug and alcohol use, school violence, and delinquency in juveniles in our community.
Program staff members Lisa Bernard from the Lassen County Sheriff’s Office, Victoria Estrada from the Susanville Police Department and Tim McDowell from Lassen County Behavioral Health all participated in delivering activity based lessons throughout the weekend.
The VIP- Violence Intervention Prevention Club is a program that was developed by Lassen Family Services to decrease violence amongst Teens and Pre-Teens. It is comprised of students from Lassen High School that are trained as advocates against Bullying, Domestic Violence, Teen Dating Violence, Sexual Assault, and Suicide Prevention. Their goal is to make presentations each year at local schools to raise awareness and educate students on these issues.
Program staff members are planning to expand the club to other county high schools in the fall and looking for teens that will be passionate, committed and enthusiastic about being part of this peer led program to help make a difference in their community.
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