Youth Built Change: Creating community researchers in STEM

By Sherry Larson

People’s Defender

Youth Built Change is a program that partners with high school juniors to research drug abuse and addiction. They focus on rural Appalachia and urban Cincinnati – two geographically diverse socio-demographic areas. Both areas deal with drug problems in their respective communities.

The students work over an academic year to develop research questions and analyze data. They present the results to academic audiences, stakeholders, and policymakers in their communities. The research conducted is directly tied to the students’ lives, and they act as shared decision-makers in the research process. The students receive payment in the form of gift cards for their participation in the program.

On May 2, 2022, Manchester high school students presented their Youth Built Change projects during a community dissemination day. John Grossheim, Manchester High School teacher leading the project, said, “The kids are really excited to present. Ask them the hard questions because tomorrow’s the big one at Princeton High School in Cincinnati.”

Ashleigh Dunn’s project dealt with school financials. She finds, “They were using funding the best they could.” She says, “When I started this, I thought I would find a couple of things where we were using money in a way that we don’t really need to.”

Chloe Johnson and Kaylee Richmond tackled drug education and the DARE program. They agreed, “The students thought it (DARE) was ineffective. We were mainly taught what the drugs were and how to use them and told not to use them. We want to make a class that would teach you more about the effects of what happens if you do the drugs.”

Rehabilitation reform was Carver Morgan’s focus. Morgan learned, “The majority of young adults required or who wish to participate in rehabilitation have a hard time doing so.” When asked if he felt that they should replace rehab with another program in specific (less severe) instances, he replied, “Yes – maybe a school class or forum would be a better step before making going to rehab a necessity. If they offered a class that explained, ‘hey, don’t do this, these are the issues, this is what it can cause for your future.’ That would be easier than jumping through hoops to get into rehab.”

Vaping is a significant issue in our schools. Emilee Applegate, Emma Farley, Connor Florence, and Maggie Roberts explored the influence of vaping. The group initially thought that social media drove the peer pressure of vaping, but after conducting a survey, they discovered it was school, and kids think it is cool. They explained that Manchester High School does have a vaping program through the American Lung Association led by Brittnee Inman, Social-Emotional Counselor, which assists kids in quitting vaping.

Jayden Breeze researched lowering the incarceration rate due to drug use by rehabilitating people. She learned that there is a low rehabilitation success rate, which discourages this assignment over jail time. Breeze asked, “Why would we waste the state’s money to send someone to a program where only 5 out of 100 stay clean for only two years?” She noted her impression of a new program implemented by Judge Brett Spencer called the 210 Program. Breeze said, “It’s been seven months (roughly 210 days) since they started it, and so far, it has been successful. We’ll have to wait a little longer to see if that’s true. I think it’ll be something very good. My next steps are to ask him (Judge Spencer) how he decides who gets to go into the 210 Program and what requirements they have to meet.”

Presenting barriers to rehabilitation in Adams County were Colson Stewart, Karson Reads, Lucas Ballinger, and Logan Bell. These young gentlemen discovered the difficulty in accessing rehabilitation in rural Ohio. Significant barriers included money, transportation, lack of support from friends and family, stigma, and lack of awareness.

The day following the dissemination was showtime at Princeton High School in Cincinnati. Grossheim reported, “The students did a great job presenting to the Princeton school board, Superintendent, and professors from the University of Cincinnati.” The observers were impressed with the Manchester students, their personal stories, and their transparency. Grossheim communicated that it was an “enlightening experience,” which allowed the students to see that other areas like urban Cincinnati have issues in their communities. At day’s end, the Manchester students “realized they are the experts in these areas.”