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Drug education program coming to school district

By Ben Pifher - Staff Writer | Jan 25, 2025

Steered Straight, a nationally known substance use and abuse education nonprofit is coming to Rugby in February.

“Steered Straight’s message is for youth, and focuses on the dangers of drugs, gangs and associated criminal activity,” said Samantha Wentz, Ely Elementary’s school nurse who coordinated the event.

The assemblies will be Wednesday, Feb. 5, at the Rugby High School auditorium from 8:45-10:15 a.m., and for parents, at 6 p.m.

Wentz said the school was looking for harmful behavior prevention, and one of the school staff recommended the program after seeing it in Bismarck. These assemblies are kept audience appropriate, she said, with separate lessons held for 4-6 graders, 7-12 graders, the school staff and their parents.

Drug poisonings are the No. 1 cause of death in Americans ages 18-45, many of which result from fentanyl, according to the Drug Enforcement Agency. This is one of the major focuses of the lecture.

Mike DeLeon, speaker at the assemblies, founded the Steered Straight nonprofit. Wentz said that DeLeon is a subject matter expert on drug trends, addiction, recovery and criminal justice reform due to past experiences with substance abuse and prison.

The program costs right about $8,000, according to David Menards, a Pierce County commissioner, and includes three separate assemblies, a curriculum that can be introduced into school lesson plans moving forward, and the program to return for the next 10 years.

The funding for the program is coming from county holdings – from settlements paid by opioid companies. Menards saw the money early in his tenure as commissioner, he said, and he thought “this money would be (great for) educational for our young people.”

The last time the school hosted a program like this, Menards said, “there were a lot of young people asking questions about marijuana and opioids.” He said if the lessons helped one student or parent, it was worth the money.

Wentz hopes to see community involvement in the lessons, and noted that assemblies put on by Steered Straight have the highest turnout in the nation. She said her goal in bringing the program to the school was to “get us all educated.”