Sherburne County Substance Use Prevention Coalition

Meeting Minutes

December 16, 2015

9:00 a.m.

Sherburne County Sheriff’s Office Emergency Operations Center

 

Coalition Members Present:

Mark Kolbinger, Becker High School

Francine Kosse, Fairview Health Services

Amanda Larson, Sherburne County Health & Human Services

Joel Brott, Sherburne County Sheriff’s Office

Alicia Klepsa, SUP Coalition Coordinator

Sam Olson, Big Lake Police Department

Dan Bradley, Sherburne County Probation

Frank Rice, The Crossing Church/Retired Resident

Victoria Holbert, Retired Resident

Amy Martin, Sherburne County Health & Human Services

Jayme Swenson, Spectrum Parent

Jennifer Pim, Sherburne County Attorney’s Office

Eric Balabon, Elk River Police Department

Darrell Skog, Spectrum High School

Angie Folch, Big Lake High School

Jennifer Nordeen, Resident

Becker High School Students – Dream Team

Spectrum High School Students – Sobriety Squad

 

Mark Kolbinger called the meeting to order at approximately 9:05 a.m. Introductions were made.

 

Mark Kolbinger asked for any additions or changes to the proposed agenda. No additions were requested. Jennifer Pim made a motion to approve the proposed agenda, which was seconded by Eric Balabon. All were in favor.

 

Mark Kolbinger asked if everyone had a chance to review the minutes from the November 18, 2015 meeting. Sam Olson made a motion to approve the minutes, which was seconded by Joel Brott. All were in favor.

 

Consent Agenda

Dan Bradley reported on the total expenditures to date for Year 2 as well as the current match. We have spent $15,012.58 of our funds for Year 2 so we have a little less than $110,000 left to spend.  For match, we are at approximately $29,000. Alicia Klepsa reminded members that carryover from Year 1 will need to be matched during Year 2. Alicia advised that by September 29, 2016, we need to have reached $156,915.99 for our total match. She also advised that officers teaching drug prevention in the schools as well as Project Northland/Class Action being taught by teachers will count towards match dollars.

 

 

 

 

Youth Leadership Groups

Students from Becker High School reported on what they have been doing in their school to get the Dream Team up and running. Their leadership team consists of 15 student members that came up with the name “Dream Team” (Drug Related Education & Awareness Mentors). After becoming the Dream Team, they created t-shirts and bracelets to bring awareness to their team. The students explained the pledge event they hosted during their lunch hour. Students were asked to sign a pledge to be alcohol and drug free. To date, they have 130 students who have agreed to take the pledge and after taking the pledge they were given a Dream Team bracelet. They have placed a banner in the lunchroom with all of the student signatures. Their goal is to host events that are drug and alcohol free. They played a video they created to show why they personally do not use drugs. The video was shown before their pledge event to notify students about the pledge. They also shared why it is important for them to be a part of the Dream Team. One student noted that when wearing the Dream Team shirt or bracelet you can be seen as a mentor or friend. It can be a sign to students that they can approach that individual if they need help or someone to talk to.  

 

Students at Spectrum High School advised they named themselves the “Sobriety Squad”. They are just finishing up obtaining t-shirt sizes for their group and teachers at Spectrum. There are about 15 students that are involved in the Sobriety Squad and they meet every other week during their service learning period. They are currently in the works of creating a video and potentially holding an event during National Drug & Alcohol Facts Week at the end of January. They have placed posters around the school in regards to being substance free.

 

Information Sharing

Alicia advised they met with Community BluePrint last Wednesday to finalize the plan for the Positive Community Norms (PCN) Campaign – about 31 students attended the meeting at Pizza Ranch in Elk River. Students voted on the name of the campaign and chose “Be Real”. Based on student feedback, social media sites like Snap Chat and Twitter were recommended versus a website. Community BluePrint will get back to us next week with their recommendations. The plan is to launch the campaign in late January/early February. Angie commented that the options were very limited and Community BluePrint didn’t use the kids as much as they could have. Alicia stated that Community BluePrint was only looking for feedback this time around from all five high schools but that there is more to the campaign than what was discussed. They plan to create a video with students before tabling at each individual school. The video would then be played during the tabling event to help bring awareness to the campaign. Roll-out meetings will be held at each school. Alicia will talk to Community BluePrint to make sure that the campaign is customized to each school.

 

National Prevention Network Conference – Alicia attended this 2.5 day conference last month in Seattle. She talked about the sessions she attended and how the information can be used in the future, especially during the PCN campaign. She thought it was very valuable and suggested sending other members next year. Alicia also reached out to Kathy Bystrom at Fairview about potentially hosting another Youth Mental Health First Aid Training. The Coalition has been added to the list of partners for future presentations. Alicia will discuss future dates with Kathy after the first of the year. Mark Lees asked Alicia to share that he held two Responsible Beverage Server Trainings on December 1st and 2nd and had 71 participants. He will also be doing alcohol compliance checks one more time this year.

 

Jennifer Nordeen was present and talked about her son who died of a heroin overdose last January. She has started a nonprofit organization called, “Free Heroin’s Hold” to get heroin users the help they need. She is a trainer in the use of Narcan kits and offered any help that she might be able to provide.

 

By-law Change

As discussed at the last meeting, it was proposed to change the wording to allow the Chair to resign after serving one year, and then the Vice-Chair would become Chair. Alicia asked for a vote to make the amendment. Sam Olson made the motion, which was seconded by Dan Bradley. There was no further discussion, and all were in favor. Mark Kolbinger resigned as the Chairperson. Mark described what the chair position involves. Amanda Larson will become the new Chairperson. Sam Olson nominated Dan Bradley for Vice-Chair, which was seconded by Joel Brott. Sam Olson made a motion to close the nominations, which was seconded by Amanda Larson, and all were in favor of Dan Bradley becoming Vice-Chairperson.

 

Members then broke out into teams to work on Parent Education, Youth Leadership, and Communication strategies.

 

The regular meeting was adjourned at 9:50 a.m.

 

The next meeting will be on Wednesday, January 20th at 9:00 a.m. in the

Sheriff’s Office Range and Training Center (Door J).