NSAA is excited to invite all 11th and 12th graders and their parents to the first much needed and overdue Drug Awareness and Prevention Assembly from 1-2 on Thursday, October, 3rd in our Theatre. We have all been affected by substance abuse and use in some way, and we have assembled a few community members to share their stories and perspectives to offer support and resources to our NSAA families.

• We will have a former parent and her son who is an alumni, who tragically buried their beautiful son and brother 4 years ago, he would be 21 years old now, but he passed away from an overdose of fentanyl. 

• An NSAA former middle school student, our NSAA faculty remembers her by her great drawing skills and her voice of an angel, has her own recovery story of success to share and inspire. 

• The City of Tempe has been a great supporter of NSAA, their first responders included. We will have an officer to speak about the latest trends in drug use and resources to help the community identify and prevent abuse and accidents of our loved ones. 

I have attached the Arizona Youth Survey Report, published by the Arizona Criminal Justice Commission every 2 years, the latest is from 2022. This report discusses the results from the survey given throughout Arizona and provides data on input from AZ youth and involvement with drugs, gangs, and more. This is an interesting read, as it is a sample of activities we may not consider exists unless we see it on the news. 

We hope to see you at the assembly, and look forward to feedback afterwards. This is our first event of this kind, and we would like this to be informative and helpful in opening conversations among families. Talking about the elephant in the room is not always easy, and with the fentanyl crisis, and schools needing to stock Narcan, we are embarking on strange territory, and we can all use help navigating through it!