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There’s great news for students in Herkimer and Seneca Counties and in the Syracuse Diocese! Despite the lack of a statewide Drug Quiz Show program this year, students in these areas WILL be able to participate. Regional competitions are currently being planned. Congratulations and THANK YOU to those carrying on this effective, meaningful prevention program. Good luck to all!
Funding for a yearly competition that sought to educate local kids on the dangers of alcohol and drug abuse has run out.
The Drug Quiz Show lost its sponsor, Rite Aid, in 2010, but carried on through March 2012 thanks to fundraising efforts and grants. Manlius resident Susan Meidenbauer, who served as the program’s executive director, said the program’s cancelation was not for lack of interest.
“We still have interested students, committed school advisors and volunteers, award-winning study materials, and the support of many professional organizations across the state,” she said. “What we don’t have is money.”
Middle school students from Christian Brothers Academy, North Syracuse Junior High, Wellwood Middle School, Tully and Chitttenango took part in last year’s regional competition in March. Limited funds kept CBA, the winning team, from competing against teams from across the state, which had been the tradition.
Meidenbauer said the program needed $120,000 to continue another year without a sponsor; supporters were able to raise about $40,000 through fundraising and donations.
The Drug Quiz Show was started in 1985 and has since seen participation from nearly 500,000 middle school students statewide. About 6,500 students and 40 middle schools from Onondaga County took part in the show over the years. Almost 30 years later, Meidenbauer said the need for the program is ever-present.
“All across New York State, we’re still seeing problems with underage drinking, marijuana and prescription drug abuse, and bullying,” she said. “I feel there’s still a very strong need for the Drug Quiz Show because it provides two critical elements: education and life skills. We want kids to know about the dangers of drugs, but also to have an arsenal of real-life strategies to use throughout their lives to be healthy and stay safe.”
She added: “I would much rather put money into prevention than treatment.”
Meidenbauer said she continues to look for grant and sponsorship opportunities that might eventually bring the program back.
“We’ll need about $120,000 to revive the program,” she said. “For that, a sponsor would get the title, innumerable public relations benefits, and the knowledge that they are keeping a valued tradition going in our community.”
Anyone interested in sponsoring the Drug Quiz Show should contact Meidenbauer at 569-3093 or susan.meidenbauer@gmail.com.
Ned Campbell can be reached at editor@eaglebulletin.com.
This is the time of year when students from all over Central New York would normally sign up to compete in the annual Drug Quiz show, a staple for local school children since 1985.
Over the years, nearly 500,000 middle-schooler participated in the annual contests.
For the first time, there will be no competition this year because the program has run out of money, said Susan Meidenbauer, who served as the program’s executive director.
Valerie Stedman, health teacher at Christian Brothers Academy in DeWitt, said she’s had kids asking her about signing up for the quiz show.
“It’s been breaking my heart to tell them we can’t do it this year,” she said “It will absolutely be missed. It was an opportunity to learn important information, and also become involved in an activity that promotes team work, and shows kids how to navigate through different levels of competition.”
At CBA, the entire seventh-grade and most eight-graders participated in the annual contest.
The competition show started in Central New York at the suggestion of a Jamesville-DeWitt student, and then expanded to 200 schools in 24 regions throughout New York state.
About 6,500 Onondaga County students from 40 middle schools participated in the quiz show, which tested students’ knowledge of drug abuse, alcohol and tobacco. Another 2,000 or so took part in Madison and Oswego counties.
In 2010, the show lost its sponsor, Rite Aid, but collected enough money to continue through March 2012. The show needs $120,000 to operate, and had raised about $40,000 from fundraising and donations, Meidenbauer said. That kept the program going through the county level competition, but the regional and state contests were canceled.
“I’m devastated about it,” Meidenbauer said.
Stedman said her students have been discussing how they could keep the contest going at the school level, but haven’t worked anything out yet.
Fay’s Drugs, a drug store chain based in Central New York, sponsored the competition when it started in 1990, and in 1997, Eckerd took over sponsorship when it was merged with Fay’s Drugs. When Rite Aid purchased Eckerd in 2007, it became the sponsor.
The show taught kids about alcohol, tobacco and drugs, but also dealt with topics like stress, making good decisions, handling conflicts, building self-esteem and more. In the past couple of years, bullying and gambling were added.
“I’d love to figure out a way to make this program come back,” Meidenbauer said.
Elizabeth Doran can be reached at edoran@syracuse.com or 470-3012.
If you saw our story on YNN (Your News Now, Channel 10 in the Syracuse area) and would like to make a donation to help save the Drug Quiz Show program, please click here and follow the directions under the heading “Specified and Special Donations.”
Heartfelt thanks for you support!
If you missed the story, check it out here. Thanks to YNN and Katie Gibas for the great coverage!
Many thanks to all 103 of you who entered the 2012 T-Shirt Design Contest. What artistic talent you showed! Each entry truly was a work of art, which made the judging process difficult indeed. Ultimately, however, the following nine winning entries were chosen (first, second, and third places in each of three age categories), and iPods and Target gift cards were awarded. Congratulations to everyone who participated. Keep up the GREAT work!
First Place: Kyle Toms, Grade 3 (click here to see Kyle’s entry!)
Cicero Elementary School, Cicero, NY
Second Place: Megan Stanton, Grade 4 (click here to see Megan’s entry!)
Lakeshore Elementary School, Cicero, NY
Third Place: Peyton Clarke, Grade 4 (click here to see Peyton’s entry!)
Burton Street Elementary School, Cazenovia, NY
First Place: Mari Saya, Grade 5 (click here to see Mari’s entry!)
Blessed Sacrament, Syracuse, NY
Second Place: Spencer Vono, Grade 6 (click here to see Spencer’s entry!)
Blessed Sacrament, Syracuse, NY
Third Place: Julia McGarrity, Grade 6 (click here to see Julia’s entry!)
Blessed Sacrament, Syracuse, NY
First Place: Kaci Toms, Grade 8 (click here to see Kaci’s entry!)
North Syracuse Junior High School, North Syracuse, NY
Second Place: Abigail Morgan, Grade 7 (click here to see Abigail’s entry!)
Clinton Middle School, Clinton, NY
Third Place: Emma Henderson, Grade 8 (click here to see Emma’s entry!)
Clinton Middle School, Clinton, NY
Syracuse — The show must go on.
The Drug Quiz Show is struggling for funds and the community can help. Saving the program is a personal appeal from at least three of our staff members who participated through two different schools in the early 2000s.
The program isn’t just about learning about drugs. It’s about talking to students in middle schools about the social pressures they’ll be experiencing in the coming years. Students between sixth and eighth grades are at their most vulnerable: learning early about society’s pressures is imperative.
What better program exists than the Drug Quiz Show to truly teach the students about these problems? The studying and learning in a fun environment makes for a memorable middle school experience. The topics don’t change or go away once they hit high school or college. If anything, that knowledge base helps cement student’s feet firmly in a world that can quickly become dangerous with drugs, alcohol and important life-decisions.
With each year that passes, more societal pressures are added for kids, increasingly at younger ages. Programs like these should be given highest priority when it comes to keeping them around. We implore the community to reach out and give a helping hand to help save this ever-so-important tradition in our schools.
Pepsi’s Refresh Everything grant program could help save the Drug Quiz Show. We just need you, and everyone you know, to vote for it online at refresheverything.com/drugquizshow, or by texting 110516 to 73774.
Through Dec. 31, you can vote once each day through each method to help save a local institution.
See our program in action ~ watch a short clip of the 2011 Finals. Enjoy!
Click the logo above to visit us and “Like” our page!
Olean Middle School (Cattaraugus County) earned the it’s unbelievable fifth Grand Champion title at the 2011 Finals competition on May 16th, making it the school with the second most Finals wins in Drug Quiz Show history. Rose Gayton, Olean’s Advisor, also saw her students take home the prize in 1994, 1996, 2001, and 2003. To honor their success, team members were awarded individual trophies, a large traveling trophy to be housed at the school for one year, and a $300 “Drug-Free Night On the Town.” Congratulations, Olean! Way to go!
We’d also like to offer big time kudos to our Runners Up, Christian Brothers Academy (Onondaga County), and our two Finalists, Clinton Middle School (Oneida County) and Wyoming Central School (Wyoming County). Great job! : )
That’s the number of 5th through 8th graders who voluntarily participated in the Twenty-fifth Annual Drug Quiz Show. These wonderful students (all winners in our eyes), representing over 200 schools throughout New York State, studied the materials provided and became engrossed in the exciting “game show” format. As a result, they were able to answer questions such as:
1. What drug is involved in 1/3 of all suicides, 1/2 of all murders, and 1/2 of all fatal car accidents?
2. Name 2 characteristics of inhalants that make them particularly attractive to 10- to 15- year-olds.
3. What is the difference between “blacking out” and “passing out?”
4. Would it be an overstatement to say that cigarette smoking is now as important a cause of death as the great epidemics of typhoid, cholera, and tuberculosis in the past?
5. What is leukoplakia? *
Students became conversant with the legalities, benefits, and risks of substances as diverse as prescription pills, steroids, chewing tobacco, and crack. They learned the health benefits of laughter and techniques for handling stress positively. They became familiar with important life skills (decision-making, ways of reducing personal risk factors, saying no, etc.). In a word, through the program they learned to make decisions based upon fact vs. myth, on sound thinking vs. emotion.
Perhaps that’s why the community has been so supportive. Each of our sponsors knows that substance abuse is our nation’s #1 health problem. Moreover, they recognize the power and potential this prevention strategy has to provide more than mere information (i.e., to make available specific tools as well as confidence in dealing with peer pressure) to thousands of public, private, and parochial school students at precisely the time research indicates they typically are faced with having to make their first real-life decisions about alcohol and other drug use.
The Drug Quiz Show is essentially a volunteer run, cost-effective project with a proven track record of replicability. It has won numerous awards including the New York State Education Week Competition and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ highest honor: the Secretary’s Award for Excellence in Community Health Promotions. With pride in our progress and even greater hope for the future, we look forward to the day when all students will have this opportunity to positively influence their own growth and development!
*1. Alcohol.
2. Accessibility and low cost.
3. During a “blackout” a drinker remains awake but suffers temporary memory loss; the next day he/she can’t remember what happened while drinking. In contrast, people who “pass out,” actually become unconscious
4. No, not according to the British Royal College of Physicians
5. White, leathery, potentially pre-cancerous patches that can appear in the mouth, for example, as a result of a person’s using chewing tobacco.
