Compass Mark’s dedicated teams work to fulfill the mission to prevent addiction through education, skill-building, and community mobilization.
Lauren Krebs, Youth Leadership Advocate
I haven’t been here long but I did get to witness Landis Run Intermediate School’s community service project day and it was great. The children started the day by handing out bracelets to each student in the school that said “Building Community Day” on them. They delivered candy grams with thank you notes to every support staff member in the school and they read Christmas books to the special needs students. At the end of the day, they spent in mixed up classrooms with students they didn’t know very well and completed various team-building activities. One of which was to cut out a feather and write something nice about your partner. Each feather had a different color based on what grade they were in and what team they were on. Afterward, the LFG group created a giant Raptor bird with wings that spanned over 25 feet and covered the wings with all of the feathers. The bird is still hanging in the school for all to see, The things written on the feathers were very kind and proved that their kindness campaign was a success!
Joshua Mountz, Prevention Specialist
The highlight of the past year, for me, was the community activities where I was able to represent Compass Mark and talk about prevention. It was an absolute joy to represent Compass Mark at Domestic Violence Intervention’s Dancing with the Stars. I, along with my partner, competed against other local “celebrities” to help raise money for an amazing community partner! I was also able to deepen our relationship with Lebanon Valley College. I was able to host screenings during National Problem Gambling Month, help plan and run screenings during Sobriety Awareness Month, and provide alcohol education to approximately 200 student leaders.During activities like National Prevention Week, Recovery Day, and National Night Out I was able to represent Compass Mark all across Lebanon County. They were also fantastic opportunities to talk about prevention. I was able to talk about how prevention is something that everyone can do, and how everybody has the ability to impact their communities in real and positive ways. For the second year in a row, I was able to grow the number of schools and students participating in Red Ribbon Week. This year over 12,500 Lebanon County students received Red Ribbons from Compass Mark and the Lebanon County Drug and Alcohol Commission. They also received classroom lessons on the importance of drug and alcohol prevention!
Michelle Sweitzer, Prevention Coordinator
Lebanon County has had a fantastic year. We are currently providing services in all six school districts to include Annville-Cleona, Cornwall-Lebanon, Eastern-Lebanon, Lebanon City, Northern Lebanon, and Palmyra. We are currently reaching 30% of the entire school population in these districts. This year we were able to sign on Ebenezer, Cornwall, East Hanover, Fredericksburg, Jonestown, and Lickdale Elementary School’s with new groups this year. Another exciting point is that we will have all six of the districts participating in the PAYS Survey this year. The benefit will be that we are able to use that information to tailor to the needs of each district. We look forward to working with other schools in the county that have not been utilizing our programs and growing Compass Mark to an even greater presence in Lebanon County.