Youth Ottawa has had the pleasure of working with Anneke Jansen van Doorn, a teacher at Glebe Collegiate Institute, through our DILA Program for the last two years. Of all the exciting projects we have completed with her classes, the Drug Awareness Day organized with her Grade 11 World Religions class in December of 2017 was by far the largest.

When our long-time facilitator, Emma Buchanan, first visited the classroom, the students immediately identified the opioid crisis and the complexity of drug use as issues that needed to be addressed. Worried about the safety of their peers, students pitched a ‘Drug Awareness Day’ to school administration.

The morning saw all 330 Grade 10 students participate in educational sessions about harm reduction, drug information, consent as it relates to substance use, and lived experience with drug use. Youth Ottawa facilitators led student-driven discussion groups to help make the school a more supportive and safe environment.

Youth Ottawa thanks our partners for this project: Ottawa Public Health, the Ottawa Paramedic Service, Rideauwood Addiction and Family Services, and Terrence Rogers. Congratulations to Glebe students for organizing such an impactful morning.