SRSLY Manchester students meet with Senators Stabenow and Peters

1st L: Alex Duranczyk, SRSLY Manchester Coalition Director, 2nd L: Autumn Orta, SRSLY Manchester Adult Leader, 4th L: Emma Paxton, SRSLY Manchester Youth Representative, 7th L: Senator Debbie Stabenow, 9th L: Senator Gary Peters, 11th L: Miranda Austin, SRSLY Manchester Youth Representative, 12th L: Meghan Somerville, SRSLY Manchester Youth Representative

submitted by Scott Somerville, SRSLY Manchester parent

Manchester eighth-grade students Miranda Austin, Emma Paxton and Meghan Somerville recently attended the Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America (CADCA) National Leadership Forum from February 3-6 in Washington DC. CADCA’s National Leadership Forum is a 4-day conference with multiple youth-oriented opportunities to learn the latest strategies to fight substance misuse and hear from nationally-known experts and policymakers with a full day dedicated to Capitol Hill events.

The forum included 3,250 participants, with 500 youth, representing community anti-drug coalitions, government leaders, addiction treatment professionals, researchers, educators, law enforcement professionals, and faith-based leaders. Learnings from the Forum will be applied to Manchester’s local anti-drug coalition, SRSLY, and its mission to change community norms and policies that enable underage drinking, illicit drug use, and over the counter medication abuse and misuse.

The Manchester youth attended several training sessions throughout the week that provided insight surrounding substance misuse prevention in communities as well as networking opportunities with other youth participants across the country. 

“The training helped me learn prevention ideas to apply in Manchester and meet other students that face similar issues,” said Meghan Somerville. 

On Wednesday February 5, the Manchester coalition traveled to Capitol Hill and met with members of Congress to discuss the current climate facing youth at the local, state and national level. Capitol Hill day started with the Manchester Coalition meeting with staff from Senators Debbie Stabenow and Gary Peters, followed by a meeting with staff of Congressman Tim Walberg. Knowing in advance that February 5 was the impeachment vote in the Senate, the expectation going-in was that a meeting directly with any Senator would be a long shot. However, in a surprise development late in the day, both Senators Stabenow and Peters found time to meet directly with the Michigan Coalition. The Manchester Students were each able to speak directly with Senators Stabenow and Peters and communicate the strategies that Manchester SRSLY practices and the current concerns regarding vaping (electronic cigarettes) in Manchester. 

“My week with CADCA was an empowering and educational experience. Meeting with our Senators to talk about local issues was amazing,” said Miranda Austin.

Added Emma Paxton, “The week I was at CADCA was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Talking with the Senators was a great experience. I hope to go again.”

For more information about SRSLY Manchester visit https://www.srslymanchester.org/. For more information about CADCA visit https://cadca.org/.

From Left: Meghan Somerville, Emma Paxton, Miranda Austin

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by Sara Swanson

Sara Swanson is an editor, writer and founder of the Manchester Mirror.