On Friday, January 22, the Performing Arts Center accommodated the students and staff of SBRHS in an assembly about the dangers of drugs, led by Matthew Hermenau-URI pharmacy class of 2018.  Principal Lanczycki took the stage first to tell his students that the presentation was not “about me trying to ruin your life.”  Mr. Lanczycki further explained that their “choice was ultimately going to be a choice that determines your life.  We are just trying to arm you with enough information to make good choices.”

Matthew Hermenau took the stage next to educate students about the dangers of drugs like Adderall (a central nervous system stimulant that affects chemicals in the brain), Percocet (a prescription opioid for pain management), and Heroin.  Part of the presentation included a student poll in which students could text their answers to a specified number and their results would appear on the screen.  Some of the results were astonishing.  For example, 50 percent of the sophomores and seniors knew a friend that was taking Adderall, 88 percent of sophomores and seniors knew the fine ($1,000) for taking Adderall in Massachusetts, and 60 percent of sophomores and seniors knew about Narcan (allows the person to breathe after overdosing). Matthew also informed the students of many interesting statistics. Like how 1 in 5 college kids abuse prescriptions prescribed to him.

After Hermenau had finished, Kathleen told her story about her association with drugs to the audience of staff and students.  She told SBRHS that she wanted to “try to bring awareness into the community and the high school so that you don’t go down the same path that I did.”  Kathleen stated that she always had looked upon people who did alcohol or drugs with a “stuck-up” attitude and that the people who got into those kinds of things did so because they had a bad life.  By the time that she realized the falseness of that, it was too late.  Kathleen said that she used to see the “cool” kids on the bus when she was a freshman and wanted to be a part of that, so she started drinking with a crowd of those types of people she classified as “cool.”  Soon, the alcohol turned into weed and cocaine.  A short while after, her older brother had become a heroin addict and was arrested when he was seventeen or eighteen years old.  Kathleen stated that she “didn’t even know who my own brother was anymore.  It was devastating.  I was disgusted with someone who had my own blood.”  Kathleen shared with her audience that her brother died when he was nineteen.  “I would watch my parents fall into the grass crying,” stated Kathleen.  “He was way more than an addict.  He was my brother.  He was my hero.”  Kathleen observed that no matter how much she loved her family, she could not stop taking drugs.  Eventually, her guilt and grief came to a point at which she wanted to kill herself, and tried by drinking a bottle of Tylenol.  “I prayed that God would take me,” said Kathleen, “because I just wanted to die.”  Since that point, Kathleen has turned her life around, and is now close to graduating from college.  However, some, like Kathleen’s brother, are not so lucky.

In this informative, and surprisingly moving assembly, Matthew Hermenau and Kathleen portrayed the very real threat that drugs pose to the youth in today’s society.  Principal Lanczycki closed the presentation up with a few touching words that reflected just how much one decision can affect so many people.  He urged his students that they “have a choice.  And one day, you might not be able to make that choice.”