Expert talks teen substance abuse in New Canaan Wednesday
By New Canaan Advertiser on February 5, 2013 in Happenings,
Ginger Katz, CEO and founder of the Courage to Speak
Foundation, with a photo of her late son Ian, will be in
New Canaan on Wednesday, Feb. 6
Learn about substance abuse and gain the knowledge and skills needed to keep your children safe at a town-wide presentation by Ginger Katz, CEO and founder of the Courage to Speak Foundation, on Wednesday, Feb. 6, 7:30 p.m. at New Canaan High School.
The NCHS Parent Faculty Association is sponsoring this substance abuse prevention initiative and will also host grade-level follow-up sessions led by Dawn Roy, LCSW, a facilitator of Courage to Speak-Courageous Parenting 101, on Friday, Feb. 8, at 9 a.m. for 11th grade parents and at 11 for ninth grade parents, as well as on Monday, Feb. 11, at 9 a.m. for 12th grade parents and 11 for 10th grade parents.
Katz, the author of “Sunny’s Story,” will present The Courage to Speak Presentation, a program that empowers students, parents, educators and others to break the silence surrounding drug use and find healthy solutions in their schools and communities. She has delivered this real life story with its prevention message in more than 1,000 presentations in schools, communities and state and national conferences across the country.
“Even if you think your child will never do drugs, it is important that you find out what their peers are doing and everything they are being exposed to,” Katz said. In 1996, she lost her son, Ian Eaccarino, to an accidental drug overdose when he was just 20 years old.
The Courage to Speak Foundation is based in Norwalk and works with experts in the prevention field to develop programs that address youth substance abuse, which have been scientifically evaluated by Yale University. The Courage to Speak drug prevention education curricula includes distinctive programs for elementary, middle and high schools, and Courage to Speak-Courageous Parenting 101, a free, multi- session course that educates parents and provides them with knowledge and tools to keep their children safe.
Katz’s book, “Sunny’s Story,” is narrated by the family beagle and is appropriate for children for ages nine years and up. It is read at many dinner tables, schools and libraries across the country and as part of the Courage to Speak Foundation school curricula.
