2023 After-Prom and Graduation Grant Recipients
Congratulations to the 2023 Herren Project After-Prom & Graduation grant recipients! Herren Project is pleased to offer each of the following schools a grant ranging from $500-$2,000 to help cover the costs of after-prom and after-graduation parties that encourage healthy choices and inspire substance-free fun.
This year’s Herren Project After-Prom & Graduation Grant Award Recipients:
Tualatin High School
Tualatin High School (TuHS) is located in Tualatin, Oregon, a suburb of approximately 27,500 people (2021) about 20 minutes SW of Portland. TuHS was opened in 1992, with its first class of seniors graduating in 1994. TuHS is a public 4-year high school in the Tigard-Tualatin School District and has a current student population of approximately 1,900 students.
In 1994, the TuHS Grad Night Committee partnered with Tualatin Together to hold its first-ever safe & sober Grad Night. That partnership has continued through the years, with Tualatin Together board members or volunteers hosting a booth at the annual TuHS Grad Night. The aim of the booth is to promote increased awareness of the dangers of drug and alcohol abuse through different hands-on activities. There is an incentive system in place to encourage kids to visit their booth. For 2023, Tualatin Together plans to offer a virtual reality experience that allows students to feel what it would be like to drive a vehicle while impaired by a substance. The TuHS Grad Night annually sponsors a safe, drug-free, and alcohol-free event for graduating seniors of Tualatin High School. With events like prom and graduation parties, the period from Memorial Day to Labor Day has been labeled “The 100 Deadliest Days” for teen drivers. Tualatin parents are very proud of their students’ accomplishments and they celebrate them by providing a Grad Night event that is “the time of their lives” without risking their lives. The event begins after the graduation ceremony and continues until the following morning. It is a night filled with food, activities, and entertainment.
Wake Monarch Academy
Wake Monarch Academy (WMA) is a recovery high school located in Raleigh, NC. One of only two recovery high schools in the entire state, WMA serves adolescents who are in recovery from substance use. WMA provides students with a safe and supportive environment to continue their high school education and empowers them to successfully pursue academic, personal, and professional goals. WMA opened in August 2021 and currently has ten students enrolled. Across all 44 recovery high schools in the United States, the average student enrollment is 25-30 students. Smaller classroom sizes, recovery staff, teachers, and individualized support; all work together to provide the support students need to achieve sustained recovery and ultimately a high school diploma. WMA will max out at 15 students by the end of this school year and will increase enrollment over time. Currently, students have over 2600 days in sobriety and an average GPA of 3.2.
One of the organizations that they work with is an IOP (Intensive Outpatient) and OP (Outpatient) program that serves adolescents with substance use disorder. Many of these students are not attending their high school due to needing treatment and don’t have the opportunity to attend their prom. In May 2022, they were able to collaborate with this treatment center and have our very first Sprom or Sober Prom. The adolescents worked together to choose the “Enchanted Forest” theme. The students helped decorate and enjoyed an evening full of fun. The highlight of this special night was the Sobriety Countdown. WMA students helped announce and started with the longest time in sobriety (their DJ had 37 years and 7 months in recovery) and counted all the way down to the shortest time in sobriety (48 hours.) The entire stage was full of those in recovery – adults and about 35 teens. Incredible!
The Strawbridge School
The Strawbridge School of Board of Child Care is a private non-profit, approved by the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) for students with Individual Education Plans (IEP’s), whose mental and behavioral health challenges make it difficult for them to thrive in the public school system.
Their Whole Child Education program offerings provide intentionally small, caring classroom settings guided by certified special education teachers and professionals.
They believe that flexibility, stability, patience, and respect are key to unlocking human potential, and the Strawbridge School offers a comprehensive program to teach important life and career skills, as well as various vocational opportunities (according to student interest level) both on and off the Strawbridge campus.
On average, they celebrate about 5 graduates each year. Their graduation ceremony is a very personalized and intimate celebration of these youth and is attended by their families and caring staff members (teachers, one-to-one aides, therapists, direct care workers, etc.)
