As most of us are aware, our country is in the middle of an opioid overdose epidemic. In the wake of this epidemic, a new school code requires schools to provide instruction to students in grades 6–12 related to the prevention of opioid abuse, beginning in the 2018–19 school year. To support our districts, Ron Rolon, Bucks County Intermediate Unit Prevention Program Coordinator, recently facilitated a session at the Bucks IU where 40 educators came together to review and unpack the Operation Prevention curriculum. Operation Prevention is a comprehensive K‑12 opioid prevention curriculum created by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and Discovery Education. The curriculum has extensive resources for students, teachers and parents.
Two separate sessions were provided. The morning session was provided for non-public schools. Representation from non-public schools include Pen Ryn School, Holy Ghost Prep, St. Isidore, Nativity of Our Lord, St. Jude, Our Lady of Mount Carmel and ATG Learning Academy. The afternoon session was provided for public schools. Public school representation included Pennridge, Central Bucks, Centennial, Council Rock, Morrisville, Middle Bucks Institute of Technology and Bucks County Technical High School.