Westside HEY Coalition 2024-2025 newsletter
Students at Madison Middle School learned how to make ceramics in one of our after-school programs.
It’s hard to believe the 2024-2025 school year is in the final stretch! Here’s what Westside HEY Coalition has been up to and how you can get involved.
What is Westside HEY?
We’re a community group focused on youth substance use prevention and intervention in the Madison Middle School and West Seattle High School attendance zone. In response to the tragic rise in deaths due to fentanyl, concerned members of our West Seattle community came together in January 2019 to form what became our current coalition. We chose a name that would embody the desire we have for our youth, “Westside Healthy Empowered Youth.” Our mission is to promote a healthy and safe community through collaboration, education, and empowerment so that Westside youth can thrive.
We’d love to expand our coalition! Please email apdewolf@seattleschools.org to find out how you can join.
Mark your calendar!
Please join us at our upcoming Town Hall Meeting on June 5, 6:00 - 8:00 PM, West Seattle High School Theater.
You’ll find out more about what coalitions and local community organizers been doing to support our youth and how you can help your children steer clear of vaping, cannabis, drinking, and other substances.
“For me, going to work means witnessing our incredible students and community members come together to uplift the greater West Seattle community.” - Amie DeWolf, Westside HEY Coalition coordinator
Our new coordinator: Amie DeWolf
In August, we welcomed Amie DeWolf as coordinator for Westside HEY Coalition! We’re so happy to have Amie on board. Amie has a background in urban planning and has spent many years in Seattle Public Schools working in special education and as a prevention and intervention specialist.
“I’m proud to support Westside HEY through coordination efforts that help bring our programs to life,” Amie said. “There’s nothing more rewarding than watching students light up as they discover new skills in our afterschool clubs, or hearing high schoolers proudly share how their school offers programs that support substance-free living and meaningful community. “
Madison Middle School
The biggest news for our work at Madison this school year is that we were able to secure school bus service to transport kids home after our after-school programs. We’re grateful to our partners at Madison Middle School for helping make this happen so that more students can participate in our free after-school programs!
The clubs we’ve offered include theater, art, math & homework help, Dungeons and Dragons, and we recently launched the MMS recording studio to help students make their own podcasts and do beat/music production! We’re grateful to Public Health Seattle & King County for providing a Cannabis, Commercial Tobacco, and Vaping Prevention Grant that helps make these programs possible, in addition to our federal Drug Free Communities grant.
We’re also working hard to help students make good choices when it comes to vaping. We started a vaping cessation group for Madison students and carried out a vape education campaign.
West Seattle High School
Here are some of our major initiatives at West Seattle High School this year:
Cessation support groups: To support West Seattle High School students who would like to steer clear of substances, we worked closely with school leadership and Crissa Parsley, WSHS social worker, to start cessation support groups focused on nicotine, cannabis, and alcohol. We partnered with WAPI on the “No Need for Weed” group and with Cancer Pathways on the “Quit the Nic” (nicotine cessation) group.
We’re really excited about the level of participation and positive feedback we’ve received from students and school leaders.
Community Assessment of Neighborhood Stores: We asked students in the school’s ASB class to visit local stores (convenience stores, drugstores, and supermarkets) to see how they’re advertising alcohol and nicotine products and assess to what degree the stores are targeting youth. The students did a great job and we’re really grateful for their participation! Westside HEY is following up by mailing letters to the stores about the assessment and sharing “We ID” stickers.
Parent education and parent support: We co-hosted a parent education night called “Homecoming and Coming Home Safe” to help parents coach their teens on making wise choices about alcohol. Additionally, we’ve worked with Ms. Parsley to host monthly Parent 2 Parent gatherings to create community and support for parents as they raise teens through the challenges of our current time.
West Seattle community
We hosted another screening of the powerful documentary, Screenagers: Under the Influence, by Seattle-area doctor and filmmaker, Delaney Ruston. The film delves into how the tech revolution has reshaped adolescence and its effects on substance use, and it shares strategies parents and schools can use to encourage healthy decision-making.
Some of our initiatives that spanned both schools included fentanyl education and a rollerskating night at Southgate Roller Rink in White Center.
Thank you for reading this newsletter to the end. That must mean you’re interested and care about this issue! Why not get in touch and join us? Email Amie DeWolf at apdewolf@seattleschools.org.
