Boardman's anti-drug program tries different approach

BOARDMAN

Paige Dill, a junior at Boardman High School, said Friday’s fourth annual Yes Fest really hit home for her.

She recalled the death of her 22-year-old cousin nearly two years ago from a drug overdose, and the almost indescribable grief she and her family felt losing him.

“When I found out, I was traumatized,” she said. “I was ... crying for about two weeks and when I went to his funeral, I tried to hold it together but then I lost it and I was an emotional wreck.”

To her, the anti-drug event is addressing a real and serious problem of substance abuse among Mahoning Valley youth.

Yes Fest first started in response to the three drug-related deaths of students in 2013. After their deaths, Anne Bott, the high school’s assistant principal and main organizer of the event, said the school’s administrators brainstormed on ways to do more.

“We had never had a situation like that so close together and we knew we had to do something different,” Bott said. “So we thought about all the years of kids going through the DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) Program and saying ‘just say no’, but we never told them what to say yes to.”

Read more about the program in Saturday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.