Summer Plans and Grant Writing
Hello, welcome back to another episode of the Drug Prevention Power Hour. I’m your host, Jake White with Vive18. And today we’re hanging out with a past guest who is on the show, Joe Tracy, and he’s always doing incredible work in the prevention field. And Joe, these are my favorite because you’re you’re literally doing prevention work every single day. Your coalition is growing. Your ambition for the field’s super exciting. So thanks for saying saying yes to another episode.
Yeah, no problem, man. It’s it’s good to good to catch up and you know, same back to you. I really admire everything you got going on with with Vive eighteen and yeah, just looking forward to to having a good chat here.
Yeah. Well, I know so you and I get to see each other at Arizona Things. I even had you out for our national conference doing some sessions. that was really awesome. We have our our camp, but I don’t get to see all the stuff that y’all are doing like every single day. So yeah, kind of catch me up on the highlights from I don’t know, maybe the last year or so and and what you’re excited about.
Yeah, the past year’s been crazy actually. we’ve we a lot of what we do is we work in schools. So that’s one of the things that we’ve been blessed with is is when we’re trying to reach kids, we that we’re good at that. so it’s it’s always trying to figure out how are we gonna do this, but also like make it interesting and not just the same thing every year.
Youth for Youth Program Overview
And yeah, so we our youth for youth program. So we also give you a little backstory on that. But basically we go into schools and we put together groups of kids that want to make a difference. And that’s that’s really at the core of what it is, is kids that just want to make an impact. But along the way, they learn leadership skills like public speaking, project management, teamwork, you know, the list goes on and on, setting goals. And this year I really like I was really trying to step things up with the kids. So we added we added three new schools this year, which which was good. And I got to do leadership conferences, which we haven’t really been able to do for the kids the the past basically since COVID. And so we we kind of got back to that.
So this past year, one of the districts I work with, they have eight schools and I brought four schools at a time together. So we had about 80 to 100 kids with with each session. And we did our our big kickoff for the year. So it was the beginning of the school year. We brought the energy. It was it was great. but this is this is where the kids, you know, they they learn for one that they’re part of something bigger, that it’s not just them going around their school talking about the the different issues here. but they get to really I don’t know they they just get that experience that you don’t get going into a classroom. And so we had all the kids together and when they they start that out, we kind of we go over some leadership things, we give give some a backstory on on on stuff. But midway through the day, we send them off on their own and they work in their their school groups and they work on identifying problems amongst the student population. Okay. Things that they can control. So they have to identify the problems that they see. Really, the only guidelines that I give them, it’s got to be something you we can control. Okay. So if you want to have you know, just ice cream in the vending machines all the time, yeah. I can’t control that.
Identifying and Addressing Student Issues
You can’t control that. so we can’t do that. you know, teachers’ behavior, we can’t, we can’t control the teacher’s behavior behavior, however, we can influence it but most of the time they pi they come up with things like vaping, bullying, mental health, social media has been a big thing that we’ve seen recently. Cause even the kids are kind of like, hey, this is a problem, which is which is really good. But at the end of the day, they get to come up in front of all their peers and they get to present the issues that they talked about, but then also what are some solutions we’re gonna do. So now all of a sudden you get a kid that’s never talked to a group people before, and now they have a hundred people in front of them, and they get the chance to express themselves. So we did that twice. The kids went back to the school year and worked on their projects. So we spend all year, they they design posters. So they they actually they sketch it out and then we take their concept and turn it into an actual like digital professional poster. and that that poster has their theme for the year.
So that may be so one of the ones that we had this year was be cool, not a fool. That was that was their thing. And everything that they did a presentation to their peers and everything went back to that thing. Hey, being a cool being cool is you know standing up when somebody’s being picked on. Being a fool is is this aspect. but they they have to figure out a way to spread their message to the entire school. So we print up forty, fifty posters for each group. They go to every classroom and put up a poster. And they also do a a ten minute peer to peer presentation. And yeah, go ahead.
Okay. So Joe, for for you, so there’s you had schools from your different areas and your area is pretty big now. It’s you’re in the Phoenix like area, but it spans a lot of miles. and you’ve got plenty of groups. I don’t know how many groups you have now, but you’re bringing them all 13. Okay. So I’m curious for that. Like, are you thirteen. Yep.
As far as the mentorship program would go, as f as far as like you being able to help as many people as possible, you have school counselors or somebody in the school that’s leading and you’re coaching them, or are you going into all the schools with you and your team to help the groups?
Leadership Development in Schools
So I’m going so we do have like school counselors that are kind of part of the part of the group ’cause I I need somebody at the school that’s gonna organize everybody, you know, coordinate with teachers if we’re doing presentations, stuff like that. But it’s after that that first conferencing that we do, every other week I go to the school and I meet with each team. And you know, I I go in there and okay, today we’re gonna talk about goal setting.
We’ll kinda go over a little bit on goal setting and then all right, start setting some goals. And we actually we we do a planning activity right then and there. you know, we may, as the year progresses, they come up with their presentations. So I’m there with them, they’re practicing, practicing, practicing, you know, I’m giving them suggestions. Hey, next time, you know, why don’t you pause after this? So I’m trying trying to give them advice, but really it’s a student led program. I’m just there to kind of guide him and you know, give them the the the confidence that they can do it. Yeah. And and it’s I think it’s it’s helpful to have a coach. You’re you’re like their coach too locally. I think that’s a good way to put it too, whenever we train advisors, it’s like, hey, you’re you’re not a player in the prevention game. You’re the coach. The students are doing everything, they’re coming up with plays and ideas and and implementing it, but they just need some coaching and guidance and someone to think of safety and logistics and stuff like that. so it sounds like that’s that’s your model and For everyone listening, Joe, you’re on episode thirty. it’s crazy.
I was wondering what episode that was, so I don’t know what this one is, like gonna be a hundred thirty, forty, fifty something. but it’s wild to think how much time has passed since we we we did this. but okay, so I’m really curious about your experience on this because some I get this question a lot, Joe. I’m in one school. How do I get more schools to say yes to this?
Building Relationships with Schools
Yeah, that is kind of crazy. I wish there was a solid answer that I could be, hey, this is what you do when it works. really it just it’s about building relationships and finding that person at the school that’s that’s or the district that’s that’s gonna be a a champion with it. So we’ve been fortunate enough to you know, we have one of our districts, every school in that district has a team. And we’re hopefully next year we did a few pilot schools this year with another district, but I’m hoping this coming school year we have another district wide youth for youth teams. So it gets really fun when you do that because then so like for the the one district this year, I did an end-a-year celebration for them. And I was like, Well, they don’t want to listen to me talk. I mean, I can talk, don’t get me wrong, but I want to make it fun for them because it the kids have been working all year. I mean, to sit there in in front of if you’re a a sixth grader and you’re going in front of an eighth grade class to say, hey, we can be better towards each other. And you know, calling c yeah, call calling her peers out saying, Hey, we do this, this, and this. I mean, it needs to be celebrated. So this year, the this the first time I’ve I’ve done this. Actually last year I did it with I actually had Z come out. As brave. Yeah.
Celebrating Student Achievements
And he did he did some sessions for me last year, but I was like, we gotta top that this year. So when you have the district involved, now all of a sudden, now it’s it’s a movement. So like the entire district, so those two schools that I had four and four the one the at the beginning of the year, I brought all together. So we had a hundred, it was a hundred and twenty-five was the final headcount.
But they were all leaders that had all gone through the same process. They’ve learned the skills. They, you know, made the posters, did the presentations. so I was like, we’re gonna make this special. So I was actually able to partner with our police department, our fire department, the National Guard, the city, another nonprofit that supplied a bunch of like food and stuff like that for us. a local pizza place donated 35 pizzas.
But my goal was to give them an experience. So we had the fire department brought out all their mannequins and they got to do CPR. Just like the just like the the fire cadets they’re training, they got to sit there and do that. The the police department, they set up a mock crime scene for the kids. And they got the dust for fingerprints. So when you when you have like the district buy-in, it creates some really amazing experiences. And it was I was so nervous going into it because I’d never done anything like that before. But some of the counselors are like, our kids are still talking about this. And in the middle of that, we threw in an underage drinking presentation as one of the stations that I went to. So we’re able to tie prevention into it, but also give these kids experiences like that they’ll never get anywhere else. So so yeah, getting into the school, it’s just it’s just being persistent.
And finding that person that’s that’s gonna be your champion. And and one of the things with schools too is you get a lot of, you know, when new ad administration comes in, you know, they it you gotta start that process all over again sometimes. so it’s yeah, it’s it’s one of those things that just it’s it’s all about the relationship and just being persistent. And a lot of the schools that we were in, I mean, it took three three years to get in the like three or four years to get into some of these. So I mean that’s how much work goes into it. So you know, just don’t give up and just keep keep going. Offer offer to do things for the school. Go and volunteer at one of their events or or help them out with something because now all of a sudden they have you know they’re gonna reciprocate that back to you.
That’s so true. I l I love that you said that because oftentimes we’re only thinking about what we need and we’re like, How can I get into the school? And they’re like, I don’t know you. I don’t like we we’ve got a thousand as a school, think about it. They’ve got a thousand things to take care of. you’re one piece of it, right? And we’re a we’re a big piece. But they don’t they might not know that or they might not be aware about prevention and how important it is. So we gotta go to them. We gotta show up where they live and the things that they care about.
Also want to highlight, Joe. I think it’s so cool that you you did that celebration event for them because part of our model with clubs should be number one, celebrating them. But two, I like what you said it. You said there’s not gonna they’re not gonna have another opportunity like this. How cool is it that because they were a part of this life-saving initiative, it’s like they said no to something else to go be a part of Youth for Youth. And because they did that.
They get to have this incredible experience that not everybody gets to get. Like hanging out and doing training with firefighters and having a crime scene set up, you know, with law enforcement and things like that. Those are things they’re gonna remember. and also, I I mean, nothing spreads good work like doing good work. So, like the schools that aren’t involved in it are like, dang, this is so cool. They’re getting real skills and opportunities and the students are thinking that too. And the fruit is there. Like it’s growing and it’s cause you’re you’re doing all the right things. that’s that’s like super inspiring to hear, Joe.
Thank you. Appreciate that. So now I gotta figure out a way to top next year. Yeah. you will. You will. okay, that’s cool. So what is what is something that you’re dreaming of right now? What’s on the on the future kind of bucket list for what you see this turning into?
Future Aspirations and Program Expansion
You know, really one of the things is I wanna be able to expand the program to to other campuses. And but also with doing that is I wanna make sure that it’s it’s done in a way that the kids are getting the same exact experience all the way across. So it’s trying to figure it’s trying to figure out that consistency throughout the year, but also figuring out a way that I can bring somebody else into that to help me with that ’cause I can only go to so many schools. But, you know, really I would like this coming year, I would like to go from thirteen to seventeen is my goal. So just expanding it little by little and then ten years from now, hopefully we have a hundred schools that have have the teams set up and and pretty much it starts to run itself. That was that was the initial vision when my dad started this many, many years ago, was to have have this kind of be a self-sustaining program, which it is. If you’re but when you get into the education landscape, there’s so many different things that that go into that as far as the the politic aspect and funding and so in a perfect world it would be self sustaining, but I I love getting in front of kids and just having a good time. It makes me feel young.
Yeah. Yeah. No, that’s great. That’s interesting because that’s I mean, you know our model. It’s very much being the the support system is we’re not where you are every single day. And so we’ve been building out I need to I need to get you in this, Joe. We’ve been building out resources for student clubs in like a dashboard, online course dashboard. And it’s starting with the advisors because the advisors right now, like yourself, are the consistent part. Students turn over, school tough staff turns over, administration turns over. So the key stakeholder right now is you and your position. so starting there, I mean, number one, it’s like how do we build the SOP or the infrastructure, the training, and the maybe it’s maybe it’s the activities or the modules that the students go through. That’s like the backbone. But then I think the challenge too is like, how do we build in enough, enough structure and consistency so that they have things to do without stealing their opportunity for creativity and doing the things that they want? Right. And it sounds like you’re really good at that in person right now. giving them those opportunities.
Empowering Students Through Ownership
Yeah, and that’s one of the big things with them is when I’m when it when we’re planning out what we’re doing for the year, I think probably one of the things I’ve repeated the most throughout the year was this is your project. You guys need to figure out how this is gonna happen. And I think giving kids the opportunity, I I think that’s that’s one of the big things is a lot of times we don’t think that they can do it because we don’t give them the opportunity to.
And it’s like all year and even throughout the year, like I’m going through here going, I don’t know if they’re ready to do this. Like I I don’t think this is gonna work. And then every time they they pull through, they buckle down and and they make it happen. But I think that’s that’s key is is giving them the ability to make it happen.
Yeah. Well, it’s it’s kinda like us too. I mean, I I think as adults we do this. We need a deadline, we need a project, we’re gonna have challenges, but we need at least somebody there who believes in us and holds us accountable. And I think that as an adult guide to a student led club, that’s half the job. Hey, you guys made this incredible plan, you’re gonna crush it, it’s gonna it’s gonna be amazing no matter what. it’s gonna change lives. But here’s what you said you were gonna do. Let’s make it happen. I’m I’m curious on the life cycle of those student projects since you’re so close to them. Is there a is there a moment or like a moment of challenge? And then when it turns into, hey, we we can solve it and and we’re doing this no matter what? Like have you seen some moments of that that flip? I don’t even know how well I’m trying to ask, but I’m curious about those moments of and how students overcome that in in those moments.
Overcoming Challenges in Student Projects
So I think one of the the big things with that is is for one, giving them the the opportunity to take ownership of it, as we were just talking a minute minute ago. my high school group this year. I really thought that this was we were gonna have to move like cancel our our event ’cause we do so rather than doing a classroom presentation, they’ll actually do they did sessions in their performing arts center. So they would have 300 kids at a time come throughout the day. they did four sessions. last year we featured a keynote speaker that we brought in to kind of compliment them. So the kids would come up and they would they would have, I don’t know, two minutes worth of something that they were saying in front of the group. And then we’d transition to another one, but the main portion was actually somebody else. this year they said, hey, we don’t want anybody else to do this. We’re gonna do it. And I was like, all right, that’s that’s great. About four weeks before we got there, like I I was really like, this is not gonna work. And I just I said, Hey guys, this is this is what we need to accomplish. You guys need to make it happen. Go ahead. And they they did it. I mean, they they ran four sessions flawlessly.
But it was just I think it’s I don’t even know how I’m trying to say this here, but just let go. Like they they will they will figure it out. Just let go. And that’s it. Yeah, don’t don’t save them. Don’t try to like get don’t try to get in their way or say you gotta do it a certain way or get perfectionism in your head. It’s like they will save their project, they will do it, and it’s right, because you let them. You just said basically, hey y’all, you got four weeks. You gotta get it into gear. And they did.
The Importance of Persistence and Adaptability
Yeah, no, and it it it works out. But I think that’s the biggest thing. And one of the things that we do also as we’re going through this is when we talk about goal setting, one of the things I I tell kids is you’re gonna you’re gonna fail at some your goals. Okay? There is things that are gonna happen that are not gonna work. Does that mean that you completely get rid of it? No. Figure out an adjustment. So one of the things that we we practice is is It’s called SPFSP, and that’s successful people find solutions to problems. And anything anybody that’s successful in life, and when I say successful, that term is going to be defined by each individual. generally they’re successful because they found a solution to a problem. You know, the whoever invented a bridge, something as simple as is a bridge, that was a solution to a problem. I needed to cross from this side to that side, and they figured out a way. Did the first one work? Probably. No, probably not. but don’t worry, you’re not gonna fall off a bridge. So you can make mistakes as we’re going through this here. but just it’s showing them that things aren’t always gonna work, and there’s ways that they can pivot to make it happen. And yeah, it’s because there’s many things that I’ve tried to do that have not worked out, but you know, it taught it it taught me something. You know, and I and I learned from it and you know, adjusted it the next time or you know, even even going into something, I’ve I’ve made the adjustment like right right on the fly there. Just just made the adjustments and you know, just again, it just comes down to just giving the kids the confidence that they can do hard things. And once they do that, I mean their their life becomes so much better.
Yeah. Well, and I think sometimes whether it’s a student or adult, we just need to hear we just need to hear someone say, I believe in you, keep showing up. Because the fact is, yes, we’re going to fail no matter what at the beginning. I feel like I had this this kid in my hometown who said, Jake, why why does like why did you get to be successful? It seems like you started doing something and it was really good. And I was like, what are you talking about? I’m I’m starting a quote business in college, but I’m broke. I’m not making any money. Here I was ten years later with a business that hadn’t really gone that far, but had a couple wins over a decade. Anybody can get a couple wins over a decade, but then they just see that the end of the road when you became successful, they only saw the tail end, you know? but the thing is, like you being able to, like you’re a great speaker.
On the fly, something could happen and you could pivot. It’s because you’ve put in a hundred reps, you know, or a thousand. Yeah, and when we were the high school group, I remember when we were first talking about the different things that they were gonna they they were gonna say. And I was like, Here, just do it like this and I just went right into it. And one of the kids looked at me and he’s like, How did you do that? And I said, Well, I practice. Like this is this is years of you know, going to Toastmasters, of recording myself in a video or listening to how I d This was this was what the hard work looks like at the end. And y going back to what you were saying about, you know, that that kid from your hometown, you know, all they saw was this up here. Generally that growth, you know, it doesn’t go nice and easy this way. It’s gonna go like this. And it it’s yeah, and that’s that’s when things everything clicks and you’ve put in that work ahead of time. The hack is great.
You one of the the podcasts I listened to, he he was talking about how he stayed consistent doing it three times a week, never missed an episode, and after five years, like he had a few followers, but it wasn’t until the next year and a half that all of a sudden he had like, I don’t know, four million or something like that. So it’s just it’s it but he said, you know, they didn’t see all that stuff before that. All they saw is that end that end result and it’s especially with social media now. I mean it’s it’s tough. I mean, I couldn’t imagine being a a kid right now. I mean, you see all these these amazing things that that are happening, but they don’t see everything that happened before that, you know.
Yeah. The the decade long overnight success. It’s like absolutely. well I Joe, I I wanna ask you because I know just for like a canvas, can we do a lightning round with you where you just kind of share what are some of the coolest things you’ve seen your student leaders do, projects wise, as you know, they all they all do something throughout the year and I love that model is they get to pick. What are some of the things that they’ve done over the past year that you’re you’re really proud of? Or maybe a couple of years, right? Yeah.
Lightning Round: Student Projects and Successes
Joe Tracey (22:30) sSclassroom presentations has been our thing. And that’s kind of because i we’re trying to turn it more into a conversation, but we said, hey, let’s let’s do some student-led assemblies. And this was with middle school students, and I had See, I had 12 middle schools. All of them wanted to do assemblies. And midway through the year, every single one of them, but one of them, pivoted to classroom presentations. So to see the one school put in the work, put in the practice to actually do a peer-led assembly, like literally, I came up there at the end and thanked them, but I didn’t open it up. They opened it up, they did everything with it. So I seeing a the first group actually be able to do their peer led assemblies, that was that was it.
Wow, that’s huge. Okay. How did they have an assembly speaker before like did they all see an assembly speaker before they chose their project?
No, I mean w we’ve they’ve had assemblies, you know, at the school before, but as far as like anything like like this, no. It was yeah, this was this was so that’s interesting that they all chose that though. That’s so funny.
Yeah. Well ’cause a lot of them have been in the program for a few years now. So ’cause we start in sixth grade and they’ll they’ll continue all the way up through eighth grade. So you get your eighth graders that have done the same thing for the past two years and they’re like, Hey, we want to do it better. so that’s that’s how that kind of happened is hey, we already did classroom presentations. but yeah, so it’s that’s that would be.
Yeah. Okay. That’s cool. That’s cool. Well, this has been great, Joe. I love catching up with you. You’re doing awesome work here. And I get to be so close, but it’s one of those distances where it’s like forty minutes, we never actually hang out. But we see each other and stuff.
Yeah, anytime, man. Yeah, it’s yeah, we’re we’re way out here. So that’s how we got the way out west coalition now. Yeah. Yeah. That’s awesome. Well, thank you for being on another episode, man.
Well, listen, for everybody listening, go back to episode thirty. Check out Joe’s first episode too. I know we dive into some of the nitty-gritty. And if you know somebody who’s trying to do youth-led prevention, share this episode with them because they’d be extremely inspired by the Youth for Youth model, everything Joe’s doing here out in Phoenix, Arizona area. and yeah, it’s incredible. And if for everyone listening, please Keep up the good work. Remember, we can’t change the world if we’re not in the game still. So we’ve got to compound our efforts. We got to go through these challenges. And I know sometimes I can feel like it’s lonely, like no one gets it, but we absolutely get it. Reach out to us. Reach out to Joe, the people in your state that are doing this work because we’re definitely better together. and y’all we’ll see you next Monday for another episode of the Drug Prevention Power Hour.
