The Blanco High School FCCLA Chapter recently sent a team of officers to participate in a special opportunity—the chance to be part of the national movement of Family, Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) chapters that are “taking on” youth violence prevention. STOP the Violence –Students Taking on Prevention is a peer-to-peer outreach initiative that empowers young people to recognize, report, and reduce the potential for youth violence. It is a national FCCLA peer education program that provides young people with attitudes, skills and resources to address youth violence prevention.

The “Chapter Leadership Team” sent to the state training event on Monday, October 29, 2007, was Jennifer Plaza, Rachel Calzoncit, Magdalena Avila, Celenia Villarreal, and John Ledesma. During each state training event, Chapter Leadership Teams will be prepared to—

• reach peers with antiviolence education;

• recognize warning signs of potential youth violence;

• promote the need for young people to report troubling behavior;

• collaborate with school and community resources to address youth violence;

• develop and implement local action projects aimed at reducing the potential for violence.

After returning from the training, the BHS Chapter Leadership Team will be responsible for sharing the program with other chapter members, collaborating with school and community resource people, conducting local action projects, and tracking results.