ASHLAND YOUTH SUBSTANCE ABUSE PREVENTION INITIATIVE
65 East Union Street
Ashland, MA 01721

Press Release
For Immediate Release
Contact: Robert Moro Project Director

The Ashland Youth Substance Abuse Prevention Initiative has joined with Ashland Athletic Director Jim Adams to invite all Ashland residents to a special evening presentation by Kathi Meyer and Bill Phillips on Monday, September 14th at 6:45 P.M. in the high school auditorium. The event is free and open to the public. Kathi Meyer has visited more then 30 schools since losing her daughter Taylor last October at an underage drinking party. Taylor drowned in a swamp at an abandoned Norfolk airport after wandering away from the party, and Ms Meyer has delivered powerful and moving presentations to area teens about the dangers of underage drinking since that tragic event. In Ashland, she is teaming up with New Beginnings Director Bill Phillips to present a special program for Ashland teens and their parents.

Bill Phillips founded New Beginnings, a Framingham-based counseling and drug awareness and intervention program in 1985, and has worked closely with parents, teens, schools and the MIAA to provide workshops, personal counseling, and motivational speeches in the Metro West region and beyond since that time.

“I saw Kathi’s presentation to Franklin parents and teens last spring, and knew then and there that I had to bring her to Ashland,” said Project Director Robert Moro. “And when I approached (newly hired) Athletic Director Jim Adams about having her present at his MIAA-mandated Chemical Health Night, he said she had done an awesome job when she came to his former school district in Millbury, and quickly agreed.”

The evening event is part of a day-long series of events at Ashland High school, beginning with separate presentations for juniors and seniors and then freshmen and sophomores at daytime assemblies, followed by a special dinner at AHS for athletes and students, culminating in the evening parent/teen presentation at 6:45 P.M. Middle school students and parents are urged to attend the evening forum.

We are very excited about this program, and I can’t think of a better way to launch our efforts to help teens stay safe and make good decisions during this school year,” said Moro. Kids relate to Kathi as if she was there own mother, because that’s how she delivers her message to them. It’s amazing how she has been able to connect with them on a very personal level. Teamed up with a guy like Bill Phillips, who always knows how to stir up an audience, this is a must-see for every parent and teen in our community.”

“I’m definitely coming and I’m bringing my daughter. I’m worried about her and I want to introduce her to Kathi,” said one Ashland parent.

The Ashland Youth Substance Abuse Prevention Initiative is funded by a grant from the Metro West Community Health Care foundation.

Robert Moro, MA/LCSW		(508) 881-0177 ext. 5226
Project Director		rmoro@ashland.k12.ma.us