Teen Institute

Arenac Eastern High School’s Teen Institute provides information, instruction, and alternatives regarding alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs to the parents, students, and other community members in our school district. We are currently working on a project for April, which is alcohol awareness month.

We’ll be hosting a teen summit on Tuesday, April 29^th, during which our entire middle and high school population (176 students) will have the opportunity to listen to clear, honest messages about the negative impact of alcohol on our community when youth begin drinking before age 21. Our staff has agreed to devote an entire day to this exciting and worthwhile venture. The students are in the throes of planning and seeking funds from individuals, agencies, health systems, and even family while also adding income by working on bottle drives, snack sales, cookiegrams, penny wars, and raffles to supplement the program.

What We Are:

Founded in 1990, this group of dedicated teens is an outgrowth of Arenac Eastern’s Student Assistance Program. Modeled after a statewide training sponsored by CMU many years ago, TI students participate in team building exercises, develop grant writing abilities, and spend a great deal of time fundraising and activity planning for their peers. The knowledge and experience these students gain as a result of their hands-on involvement in implementing quality informational programs has twice been recognized by the Prevention Network of Michigan with two Model Workshop Awards, and grants in excess of 10,000 over the past ten years.

How You Join:

Arenac Eastern’s Teen Institute is open to any high school student grades 9-12 who wishes to work at maintaining a healthy lifestyle while serving others in their home school and even the local area. Meetings are weekly in Ms. Hunter’s room (105) and usually run from 3:15-4:45. Listen to the announcements for day changes, or check with Ms. Hunter or another TI member.

What We Do:

We strive to provide safe, and more importantly, FUN alternatives to the violence, alcohol, tobacco, or other drugs to which many kids are exposed daily. TI also promotes a message of tolerance within its group, by hosting activities such as “Mix-It Up Day,” where students are asked to sit with someone different at lunch, and then provided with a series of questions designed to let these new lunch partners get to know each other in an entertaining and non-threatening way.

TI provides a sober reminder of the death and destruction wrought by poor choices with regards to use, abuse, and violence by putting on a Grim-Reaper Day in which the consequences of such choices are brought to life in poignantly memorable fashion.

We are also the group who presents the middle school students with their chance to show individual class pride with the annual Winterfest Week. This “mini homecoming” includes door decorating competitions, dress up days, selection of a court, crowning of a King and Queen, and an assembly full of chances to laugh, shout, and compete. The week culminates in a formal dance for students in grades 6-12 chaperoned by TI students.

When it begins to look a lot like Christmas, you can count on TI to supply our school with entertaining assemblies, candy grams, and even an advent calendar in the school cafeteria.

This year TI tackled the tender subject of teen suicide during Suicide Prevention Week. Yellow ribbons were hung all around the school, cards telling how to get help were distributed, and every student in grades 6-12 made a link in the chain of hope that was hung around the school quilt.

In April, alcohol awareness month gets all the attention as we work hard to provide accurate, useful information in a non-lecturing format through games, music, and short skits

Finally, TI students have special activities that are planned just for fun, team building purposes. We’ve gone Christmas Caroling, had a Hayride and Bonfire, and have planned a movie night as well. We’re all about hard work, it’s true, but we’re also smart enough to know you have to reward yourself once in a while.

Who Says We’re Any Good?

TI students have presented at the state youth leadership conference in Lansing, MI, and are recognized among their peers, their teachers, and other adults as positive young role models for others.

2007-2008 Members include:

Seniors: Lindsay Nelson, Carrie Fink, Aleece Blata, Casey Ewald, Steven Ladach, Tiffany Wenkel, Ethan Klopf, & Ashley Groh.

Juniors: Laikin Berry, Kaytlin Fitzgerald, Marcy Langstaff, Jolene Tacey, Tabitha Hill, Britney Norton, Hallie Schaffer, and Ashley Trombley.

Sophomores: Ali Lemmer, Kamre Moran, Graham Morgan, Kayla Stringer, Briana Dery, & Chelsea Dery.

Freshmen: Braidon Berry, Maddie Nelson, Sara Wenkel, Erin Ecker, & Willie Nelson.