Cannabis is in the news again. On January 4th, the Vermont House of Representatives voted 81 to 63 in favor of legalizing recreational marijuana. The details have yet to finalized as the bill still needs to pass through the Vermont Senate.
This transition might send the signal to teens that marijuana use is okay. Now is the time to talk to your kids about marijuana.
Local Youth partnered with ACT to continue the Sticker Shock Campaign. Continuing the campaign of last year, in an effort to raise awareness of the penalties of supplying minors with alcohol.
The Youth Ambassadors Program comes to a close for the academic year, as students in the program prepare for the summer, and some prepare to graduate. Their last meeting was on Thursday, May 26th. Pictured below are the students with all the donations from the last project of the year.
Pictured left to right are three of this years members, Katie McCartney (freshman in high school), Cindy Stearns (senior in high school), and Caroline Crawford (freshman in high school) posing for a picture with all the donations they aqquired for the last project of the year, a donation drive for the local Second Chance Animal Shelter!
The students worked hard through out the year, spearheading three major projects that would better their community. A toy drive with Broc in December, a donation drive for a project called Dorie’s Promise in collaboration with Grace Christain School later in March of 2017, and a donation drive for Second Chance Animal Shelter this May.
All of the students in involved in the program this year (Sophia Prandini, Darby Martell, Katie McCartney, Cindy Stearns, Caroline Crawford, and Arianna Barrios) worked hard and attended meetings when they could take the time to do so. We at ACT are so proud of our Youth Ambassadors working hard to better their community!
If you or someone you know is interested in joining Youth Ambassadors next year to expand and do even more awesome things, please do so! There will be an updated application on this website soon to come!
Thank you for all your hard work Ambassadors 🙂
Youth Appreciation Day happened this Saturday!! Familes and kids of all ages attended, and had a great time, enjoying the live music and endless activities provided! It was a beautiful day, perfect weather for such a wonderful event.
This year the event was planned by 3 AmeriCorps VISTAs who work in the community. Rachel Newton, Elyse Belarge, and Rebecca Raymond. They collaborated with many community partners to make it happen. In the following years, Youth Appreciation Day will become even more of a community project, giving everyone an opportunity to participate in such a wonderful day!
Youth Appreciation History: This was the fourth annual Youth Appreciation Day in Bennington, VT. Each year it gets bigger and bigger. The goal is to show youth they are appreciated in their community for all the hardwork they do, and help they offer.
This year there were 23 booths, and a ceremony recognizing youth who serve in the community, and really try to make a difference. As well as free food and activitites.
ACT had a photobooth, for kids to come and take pictures in a frame that stated, “YOUTH APPRECIATION DAY, THANK YOU!” to let the kids know how much we appreciated them and all that they do! There were fun props and other things that the kids got to pose with, and of course some parents as well! Take a look at some ot fhe pictures taken, and how much fun everyone had! Maybe you’ll see yourself!!! 
To see the rest of the photos and find out more about how the day went, visit ur facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/ACTbennington/
ACT is currently recruiting for a Social Media and Development VISTA. We’re looking for an enthusiastic and organized individual to write and research grants and develop a social media outreach plan. Check out the full description HERE.
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A member of the ACT family has gone on to rest in power this week. Dr. Judith Fellows was a long-standing member of ACT through many incarnations over several years. As a prevention consultant with the Vermont Department of Health, Dr. Fellows brought a high-level of expertise and mentorship to many coalitions and organizations who sought to improve the health of our communities. She served on ACT’s executive committee and helped to support our work until her retirement.
