Cobb Alcohol Taskforce Youth Council Participates in Georgia Teen Institute

The Cobb Alcohol Taskforce (CobbAT) Youth Council Leadership Team attended leadership sessions and workshops on substance abuse prevention at Georgia Teen Institute (GTI) at Oxford College in Oxford, GA June 19-22. Cobb Alcohol Taskforce Youth Council Manager, Amy Hoffman, accompanied four local teens at the event.

Youth Attendees consisted of:
- Matthew McDade; 10th grade, South Cobb High School
- Anirudh Udutha; 11th grade, Wheeler High School
- Elizabeth Osman; 10th grade, Walton High School
- Ashley Clayborne; 12th grade, Hillgrove High School

GTI was a great experience for the youth to learn ways to create change in their communities and ways to have fun without the negative peer pressures youth experience such as alcohol and other drugs/risky behaviors can bring. At GTI the CAT Youth Council worked together to create a team action plan using the Strategic Prevention Framework (SPF) model.  The youth went through the process of assessment, capacity building, planning, implementation and evaluation. The week was not strictly business, the youth participated in 101 Ways to Party Like a Superhero, fun-energizing games and various team building exercises.  

At GTI, the CobbAT Youth Council Leadership Team was proud to receive the "Sticker Shock Heroes Award" for their 2011 community project. The project involved the Youth Council working to place over 750 stickers on alcohol products in convenience stores reminding the public that you must be 21 to consume alcohol and not to provide alcohol to minors.

For more information on the Georgia Teen Institute please go to http://www.georgiati.org/who_we_are.html