Thousand Oaks, California
Megan is the Dean of Redwood Middle School in Thousand Oaks, California. She had Tomas Barraza from Vive18 come to show her students alternatives to drugs and alcohol. She said the message was relatable to real world experiences they face every day. It wasn’t just a doom and gloom, scary story, or “just say no” message. It was real and the students really enjoyed it. Megan said it impacted even the students she was concerned about. She recommends Vive18 youth substance use presentations to others in California middle schools.
Auburn, California
Jake and Tomas spoke at Bowman Charter School for the students in elementary school and middle school. They were the Red Ribbon Week assembly speakers and hosted a parent night about substance use prevention. As you can see… it was very interactive, fun and engaging!
Tracy, California
“Amanda Bowman, Kimball High School Assistant Principal and Tracy. We just had a great presentation by Tomas from Vive18. The kids were so engaged.
Everything went great. If you have an opportunity, get them to come to your school. It’s going to make a huge difference. (If they don’t learn about drugs from trust adults) They learn from their friends. They learn from their friends. They learn from the negative influences that they have out there in the community. So it’s really important that we get it into our schools and get that message across.
It was really easy. The information was sent out, I communicated, and it was easy to get what we needed. So I would say it was totally worth it. The kids were, again, really engaged with what was going on in the presentation. And do it. Do it. You won’t be sorry.”
Tracy, California
“My name is Gary Henderson, principal at West High School in Tracy, California, and I want to thank Tomas for such a great presentation, much needed one for our student body.
Given today was informative, yet the kids were engaged. They played games and were active in the presentation. So that was a plus for a high school age kid. If we’re not giving the message as schools and as teachers, as counselors, we hope it comes from parents, but we can’t rely on that all the time. So it’s really important to continue to give those messages from an early age through high school.
Just continue to remind the students that it’s not the right direction for them if they want more. A high school principal, think that this is a powerful message for our students and I would encourage any high school or middle school, I think it would be a great message for middle school principals to send to their students. I really appreciate it. It’s something that we really need to try to tackle. It’s such a problem in our schools these days that if we’re not doing it, then we’re not doing due diligence to our students.”
Tracy, California
“My name is Tony Keithana. I’m here at Tracy High School. I’m an assistant principal at Tracy High. And today we just had an awesome presentation from Tomas and Vive 18. It’s testing week for us, but we were able to incorporate his presentation and the powerful message for our students to hear at Tracy High School. I think the students were really engaged.
I think it’s like anything, you have a bunch of high school students in a tight area and of course they want to be into what they’re into, of course the message gets through and the interactive portion, I think the game portion, the students really enjoyed today.
We have not like this, not something at this level. I think it’s usually in a smaller setting in the individual classrooms with our counseling team. But yeah, this was definitely something that was next level for us. Yeah, you know, think obviously these topics are hot button topics and the kids, you know, I think they’re looking for directions. So yeah, something that has this kind of energy that is something that they’re sort of a guilty interest in because let’s face it, they’re being pulled in all kinds of different directions out there with society and social media.
So I think something that has this kind of energy and this message is definitely powerful. Would definitely encourage all administrators to book Vive 18. Like I said, Tomas does an excellent job and he’s very interactive with the students and I think the message overall is just something that’s important and that our youth today need to hear.
Unfortunately, I think a lot of our youth today, they’re getting their message and I hate to say it, but it is really from social media. It is from influencers that might not have their best interests at heart. know, we’re all, grew up on hip hop, I grew up on music like that too, but unfortunately they are influenced by some of the stuff that they see. And so it’s important that I think, you know, not just administrators who deal with discipline every day, they hear it from us, they hear it from teachers, they hear it. Counselors but it’s also important that they hear from outside sources that kind of bring a different approach and sort of a one-off if you will experience.
Yeah, so our district, I know they brought Vive18 in, but just the day setting everything up. mean, when we got here, Tomas was ready to roll, everything was set up. And other than just sort of dismissing and bringing in the groups, Vive18 handled it all. So it was easy for us as a site and as an administrator.”
Canejo Valley, California
Ashley Cooper works with Career Education, ASB and the TUPE Tobacco Use Prevention Education program in Canejo Valley, California. She saw Jake White and Tomas Barraza from Vive18 present their keynote speech at a youth conference and brought them to her schools to show her students how to have a great time without using substances.
“We were lucky enough to have VIVE18 on two of our campuses today. So pretty cool experience having VIVE18 come out with Tomas Barraza and really rally up our middle schoolers with a fun, filled, energetic, informational type of presentation and totally switch gears with our high school students who are part of our continuation academy so that they could really hear a to-the-heart, real world experience of overcoming. The message is not where you start, but it’s where you end up. So a lot of great things happening here in the Canaveral Valley Unified School District.
Students can get the wrong information from other students. So if we’re not having discussions as adults with the real information with the scientific background, they’re getting the wrong information. So going to them and having those uncomfortable conversations are the ones that are really going to matter to our students. And so bringing Vive18 in opens that door for our teachers to reinforce what they’re doing with their tobacco (TUPE) education and the curriculum that we provide them. But really hearing from someone that is an outside source, reinforcing what they’ve heard in the classroom, what their parents may or may not have been saying at home, really solidifies that message of those positive choices for the best future possible.
Canejo Valley, California
Administrator from Canejo Valley School District in California talks about Vive18 speaker Tomas Barraza who gave inspiring life direction to students in middle school and high school. The presentation was engaging, concise and helpful for their future. Drug use is so prevalent and it seems they have to make decisions around it everyday. Their exposure to vaping is also something that made them want to bring the Vive18 substance use prevention program into their schools within the district. His story of impact gave students the ability to see that there are other choices besides drinking, smoking, vaping or using drugs. If another principal asked about Vive18 he said, “do not hesitate!” It’s a great message that can help students make better choices and guide their lives.
