Positive Peer Influencer Program
The Mediation Center of the Coastal Empire’s Positive Peer Influencer Program empowers Savannah-area public high school students to mentor local middle school students, encouraging them to make healthy choices. Positive Peer Influencers model good decision making, speak with students about how to navigate peer pressure, discuss the potential consequences of poor decisions and offer advice about how to make healthy choices.
This innovative program is a special collaboration between The Mediation Center of the Coastal Empire, Savannah-Chatham County Public Schools and the Chatham-Savannah Counter Narcotics Team. The goal of Positive Peer Influencer program is to help local teens learn how to handle social and emotional pressures and to build a relationship with an older student that will carry over when the middle schooler arrives at high school.
Positive Peer Influencers will discuss the dangers of tobacco, vaping as well as fentanyl, which is involved in 84% of teen overdose deaths, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Positive Peer Influencers deliver a presentation sharing facts about fentanyl, opioids and other dangerous drugs, encouraging local middle school students to “choose to refuse.”
During the Spring 2024 semester, the inaugural group of Positive Peer Influencers at New Hampstead High School, Alfred E. Beach High School, Islands High School and Herschel V. Jenkins High School trained with The Mediation Center staff before going into local middle schools to meet with students.
The State Board of Education requires all schools in grades K-12 to provide instruction regarding alcohol, tobacco, vapor products and other drug use on an annual basis. The Positive Peer Influencer program is aligned with the Georgia Department of Education’s Health and Physical Education Program Standards.
This innovative program encourages students to have courageous conversations and to create conditions that allow teens to be influenced in constructive ways. The ultimate goal is to equip young people with the tools they need to make positive decisions that set them up for a bright, healthy future.
If you’re a SCCPSS high school student who would like to learn more about how you can become a Positive Peer Influencer for the 2024-2025 academic year, please contact Sherlisa Praylo at spraylo@mediationsavannah.com.
POSITIVE PEER INFLUENCERS IN THE NEWS
PARTNER LEADERSHIP SHARE ABOUT THE POSITIVE PEER INFLUENCER INITIATIVE, Director Sarhatt (CNT), Kurt Hetager (SCCPSS), and Jill Cardenas (TMC) sit down with Rob Catanese, Chatham County Public Information Office, to discuss the birth, success and future of the Positive Peer Influencer Program, Learn more: https://vimeo.com/944507299
CHATHAM NARCOTICS SPEAKS ABOUT THE SUCCESS OF PPI, Learn more: https://vimeo.com/940849299
WTOC COVERAGE AT MYERS MIDDLE SCHOOL/JENKINS HIGH SCHOOL LAUNCH, Learn more: https://www.wtoc.com/2024/03/19/sccpss-launches-new-program-encourage-students-make-healthy-choices/
MEET FOUR POSITIVE PEER INFLUENCERS, Learn more: https://vimeo.com/943264495
INVITATION FOR COMMUNITY PARTNERS, Learn more: https://vimeo.com/944507299
POSITIVE PEER INFLUENCERS ACKNOWLEDGED AT YOUTH CELEBRATION EVENT, Learn more: https://www.savannahbusinessjournal.com/events/photos/mediation-center-youth-programs-recognition-awards-celebration/collection_78f98fd0-fd26-11ee-b522-9bd23ef32f2d.html
Thank you to our funding partners:
