June 05, 2019 at 09:44PM
To demonstrate the benefits of addiction-free living to students and the community, North County High School's Living the Example initiative offered a free concert featuring local artists Coexist, JAGMAC, USA Junior Cheerleaders and the North County Hip Hop team.
North County English teacher Jennifer Fulwiler coordinated the program, which she said went better than she could have imagined.
"One of our 11th-grade classes won $5,000 to bring a drug awareness event to the school, but I didn't want to do the typical say-no-to drugs message," Fulwiler explained. "That was a great message, but we wanted to do something positive and uplifting that would not feel like we're forcing them to stay away from drugs."
After the class won the cash to fund the event, Fulwiler said she wasn't quite sure what to plan.
While chatting about the event with her children's tae kwon do instructor, Carlos Patalinghug, he offered his own kids — the band JAGMAC. Fulwiler got permission for the band to perform and she said the event just grew from there.Fulwiler said during its performance, JAGMAC – a group of six siblings who combine positive lyrics with showy, martial arts-infused dance – was happy to talk about avoiding drugs and healthy choices.Because USA Junior Cheerleaders focuses more on positive experiences than competition, and because several North County students participate, the group was an obvious choice for performers.The North County Hip Hop team captain Tytiona Briscoe said the team wanted to show its support and be a part of the awareness. Briscoe said with exciting, trending music, the team felt teenagers would be drawn to the concert and take the opportunity to be educated."We understand the effects of drugs in our community and also know how populous it has gotten in this past school year especially," Briscoe said. "We want teenagers specifically to understand the effects so they will choose for themselves to do what's best for their health."Photos of the people and places as featured in the Glen Burnie East column in the Maryland Gazette. Anthony Caesar, of the Baltimore multi-genre quartet Coexist, said they were excited when JAGMAC reached out — they, too, are well aware of the impact of drugs on the community, and the group wholeheartedly believes in giving back.
"If we could inspire kids to be themselves, bring awareness to the situation, and use our music as an escape for those who are struggling with it or knows someone who is struggling with it we want to be that outlet for them," Caesar said.
The contest and Living the Example program are offered by Mentor Foundation USA. Living the Example is a peer-to-peer program which seeks to empower kids to reach out to one another about staying drug-free, while showcasing their positive choices.
Fulwiler said with her experience as an educator, the minute you tell teens not to do something, the more allure it sometimes creates. Instead, she wanted the North County program to demonstrate that there is a better way to live — with kids involved and invested — which would help students natural decide to make positive choices.
She said vaping is a good example — Fulwiler showed her class information and photos about the popcorn lung syndrome, which is incurable. She said popcorn lung can begin between two and eight weeks after regular use of vape or e-cigarette type devices. She told the kids it's not like smoking, where bodies can begin to heal when the person quits — popcorn lung ends with a lung transplant or death.
United States Naval Academy plebes crawl through trenches and clamber over obstacles in the annual Sea Trials, a roughly 14 hour challenge that is part of the culmination of their first year.
The Eleventh Annual Planet Walk was held along the B&A Trail between Glen Burnie and Severna Park with NASA scientists, astronomers and other experts presenting information and activities about each of the planets at stations along the trail.
People attend a candlelight vigil at the Colonial Square Apartments in Glen Burnie for Tyrique Hudson who was killed at the complex. (Kenneth K. Lam, Baltimore Sun video)
The funeral procession for Michael Busch, speaker for the Md. House of Delegates. (Karl Ferron / Baltimore Sun video)
Maryland senate president Thomas V. Mike Miller speaks about Michael Busch, the late speaker of the house.
She was stunned when classes had already heard the lesson from their earlier classmates. More than 20 kids came to her, saying they were going to choose to quit vaping, she said.
Fulwiler also was encouraged by the number of students who helped set up and run the Living the Example event — proof that involvement and positivity changes lives, she said.
"It just goes to show you, because that's where the students chose to be at 1 on a Saturday. I told them later, every kid in this facility tonight is not out on the street using — this moment, you could be stopping a parent or a friend from using."
For her, North County was home, Fulwiler said. After dreading the move to the new school from Andover, she said her senior year was her best year of all. She said with the brand new school, many parents were involved and several community events were offered — the way she hopes it will be again.
"For me, North County was where you went because that was where you wanted to be, where now I think they feel like they come if nothing else better is going on," she said. "I want to shift that priority."
Fulwiler said the representatives from the Living the Example Project were excited and pleased with the response to the North County event. She said the school hopes to maintain its relationship with the foundation, and secure funding for future events for the 2019-20 school year with double the participation.
She said she hopes to be able to offer experiences to students that they might not otherwise get, to open their eyes to hobbies, physical activities and experiences they can choose rather than detrimental paths.
"The goal isn't tell people to stop doing anything, because that doesn't change anything," Fulwiler said. "We want them to change because they want to. Bringing information allows them to see and become involved – then they change, and the change becomes permanent."
Support local journalism. Subscribe to The Capital today. »
To share your news in the Glen Burnie area, contact Amy Laque at MDGazetteAmy@gmail.com or 443-924-6440. Follow her on Twitter @GlenBurnieTalk.
To demonstrate the benefits of addiction-free living to students and the community, North County High School's Living the Example initiative offered a free concert featuring local artists Coexist, JAGMAC, USA Junior Cheerleaders and the North County Hip Hop team.
North County English teacher Jennifer Fulwiler coordinated the program, which she said went better than she could have imagined.
"One of our 11th-grade classes won $5,000 to bring a drug awareness event to the school, but I didn't want to do the typical say-no-to drugs message," Fulwiler explained. "That was a great message, but we wanted to do something positive and uplifting that would not feel like we're forcing them to stay away from drugs."
After the class won the cash to fund the event, Fulwiler said she wasn't quite sure what to plan.
While chatting about the event with her children's tae kwon do instructor, Carlos Patalinghug, he offered his own kids — the band JAGMAC. Fulwiler got permission for the band to perform and she said the event just grew from there.Fulwiler said during its performance, JAGMAC – a group of six siblings who combine positive lyrics with showy, martial arts-infused dance – was happy to talk about avoiding drugs and healthy choices.Because USA Junior Cheerleaders focuses more on positive experiences than competition, and because several North County students participate, the group was an obvious choice for performers.The North County Hip Hop team captain Tytiona Briscoe said the team wanted to show its support and be a part of the awareness. Briscoe said with exciting, trending music, the team felt teenagers would be drawn to the concert and take the opportunity to be educated."We understand the effects of drugs in our community and also know how populous it has gotten in this past school year especially," Briscoe said. "We want teenagers specifically to understand the effects so they will choose for themselves to do what's best for their health."Photos of the people and places as featured in the Glen Burnie East column in the Maryland Gazette. Anthony Caesar, of the Baltimore multi-genre quartet Coexist, said they were excited when JAGMAC reached out — they, too, are well aware of the impact of drugs on the community, and the group wholeheartedly believes in giving back.
"If we could inspire kids to be themselves, bring awareness to the situation, and use our music as an escape for those who are struggling with it or knows someone who is struggling with it we want to be that outlet for them," Caesar said.
The contest and Living the Example program are offered by Mentor Foundation USA. Living the Example is a peer-to-peer program which seeks to empower kids to reach out to one another about staying drug-free, while showcasing their positive choices.
Fulwiler said with her experience as an educator, the minute you tell teens not to do something, the more allure it sometimes creates. Instead, she wanted the North County program to demonstrate that there is a better way to live — with kids involved and invested — which would help students natural decide to make positive choices.
She said vaping is a good example — Fulwiler showed her class information and photos about the popcorn lung syndrome, which is incurable. She said popcorn lung can begin between two and eight weeks after regular use of vape or e-cigarette type devices. She told the kids it's not like smoking, where bodies can begin to heal when the person quits — popcorn lung ends with a lung transplant or death.
United States Naval Academy plebes crawl through trenches and clamber over obstacles in the annual Sea Trials, a roughly 14 hour challenge that is part of the culmination of their first year.
The Eleventh Annual Planet Walk was held along the B&A Trail between Glen Burnie and Severna Park with NASA scientists, astronomers and other experts presenting information and activities about each of the planets at stations along the trail.
People attend a candlelight vigil at the Colonial Square Apartments in Glen Burnie for Tyrique Hudson who was killed at the complex. (Kenneth K. Lam, Baltimore Sun video)
The funeral procession for Michael Busch, speaker for the Md. House of Delegates. (Karl Ferron / Baltimore Sun video)
Maryland senate president Thomas V. Mike Miller speaks about Michael Busch, the late speaker of the house.
She was stunned when classes had already heard the lesson from their earlier classmates. More than 20 kids came to her, saying they were going to choose to quit vaping, she said.
Fulwiler also was encouraged by the number of students who helped set up and run the Living the Example event — proof that involvement and positivity changes lives, she said.
"It just goes to show you, because that's where the students chose to be at 1 on a Saturday. I told them later, every kid in this facility tonight is not out on the street using — this moment, you could be stopping a parent or a friend from using."
For her, North County was home, Fulwiler said. After dreading the move to the new school from Andover, she said her senior year was her best year of all. She said with the brand new school, many parents were involved and several community events were offered — the way she hopes it will be again.
"For me, North County was where you went because that was where you wanted to be, where now I think they feel like they come if nothing else better is going on," she said. "I want to shift that priority."
Fulwiler said the representatives from the Living the Example Project were excited and pleased with the response to the North County event. She said the school hopes to maintain its relationship with the foundation, and secure funding for future events for the 2019-20 school year with double the participation.
She said she hopes to be able to offer experiences to students that they might not otherwise get, to open their eyes to hobbies, physical activities and experiences they can choose rather than detrimental paths.
"The goal isn't tell people to stop doing anything, because that doesn't change anything," Fulwiler said. "We want them to change because they want to. Bringing information allows them to see and become involved – then they change, and the change becomes permanent."
Support local journalism. Subscribe to The Capital today. »
To share your news in the Glen Burnie area, contact Amy Laque at MDGazetteAmy@gmail.com or 443-924-6440. Follow her on Twitter @GlenBurnieTalk.
Related Posts
Bitcoin Has A Surprising Chief Cheerleader - Forbes- PHS Cheer Team Makes States - WPTZ
- Fayetteville high school students hold fundraiser to upgrade dirt running track - WTVD-TV
- Scenes from the stands and sidelines at the Northside-Phoebus Class 3 state boys basketball final - Roanoke Times
- Get your pom poms ready 'cause Bring It On The Musical is Coming Back to Australia - SmoothFM