Youth prevention programs are critical for ensuring that our youth have the knowledge and tools to make healthy decisions in their lives. Metro Drug Coalition offers numerous evidence-based programs designed to reduce risk to our youth, build resilience, and equip them with the knowledge to make informed decisions for themselves and their health and well-being.
Read on to learn about our various youth initiatives, our Youth Initiatives Coordinator, and how to get involved. We’ll start with our most popular presentation: My Drug Free Life.
What is My Drug Free Life?
My Drug Free Life is an education-based program in which we teach 6th-12th grade students the risks associated with commonly used substances and equip them with strategies to avoid drug misuse.
This lesson explores topics like vaping and alcohol use, risk and protective factors, the impact of advertising, self-esteem building, and peer pressure refusal skills. This lesson is available in a classroom setting, after school or anywhere that youth are served.
How many students does MDC typically reach with this program?
During the 2024 fiscal year (October 2023 – September 2024), MDC reached a total of 1,104 students with My Drug Free Life education.
This quarter alone (January-March 2025), MDC worked with over 700 KCS students on My Drug Free Life.
With the fiscal year halfway completed, MDC Youth Initiatives Coordinators have now educated over 2,575 students between October 2024 – March 2025. This exceptional growth demonstrates a growing partnership with Knox County Schools and a commendable dedication to service by our Youth Initiatives Coordinators!
What other youth initiatives does MDC offer?
Positive Action
The evidence-based Positive Action Curriculum teaches youth how that positive thoughts lead to positive feelings, which lead to positive action. This program builds positive coping skills in students so that they have alternatives to substances when they feel stressed, angry, or anxious. MDC implements Positive Action with afterschool programs and organizations.
Generation Rx
Using age-appropriate, engaging resources, Generation Rx educates children about medication safety principles, equipping them with a foundation for understanding how to use medicines safely before they enter their teen and adult years
Catch My Breath
CATCH My Breath empowers students with the knowledge and skills needed to make informed decisions about e-cigarettes and resist social pressures to vape. It is the only school-based vaping prevention program proven to reduce the likelihood of vaping among youth. MDC provides Catch My Breath education to students who are caught vaping at school; their court fees are waived for their participation.
Prime For Life
Prime For Life is an evidence-based program that provides a judgment-free way of understanding how alcohol and drug-related problems develop, what we can do to prevent them, and why sometimes we need help. Prime For Life strives to help all participants reflect on personal choices, be inspired and motivated to make changes, and most importantly, protect the things they value most in life. MDC is currently partnering with the Knox County Juvenile Detention Center to implement the Prime For Life program.
Beamer’s Buddies
MDC has partnered with the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation to implement a new prevention program for kids ages 7-12 called Beamer’s Buddies. Beamer the Bulb Boy helps kids 7-12 understand addiction & recovery by making it easier to identify and express emotions.
Teen Mental Health First Aid
Teen Mental Health First Aid (tMHFA) teaches teens in grades 9-12, or ages 14-18, how to identify, understand and respond to signs of mental health and substance use challenges among their friends and peers.
Who presents MDC’s youth programming?
Youth Initiatives Coordinators
MDC has two full-time Youth Initiatives Coordinators. Maria Valerio, pictured at the top of this page, focuses primarily on Knox County’s middle school population, striving to reach students before the age of initiation. Maria’s counterpart handles high school programming.
While our Youth Initiatives Coordinators are primarily the ones in charge of implementing the programming, all of MDC’s prevention team pitches in from time to time with programs like Generation Rx, Prime for Life, and Beamer’s Buddies.
A Little Bit About Maria
Maria earned her Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology with a concentration in Disasters, Displacement and Human Rights from the University of Tennessee. She is passionate about empowering youth with knowledge, coping skills and agency so that they can live happier and healthier lives.
We asked Maria what she enjoys about being a Youth Initiatives Coordinator with MDC:
There’s a lot I like about working with students and youth, but their awareness of hard topics always amazes me! They are more aware today than ever about the connection between mental health and substance use, the dangers of laced pills, or the marketing tactics that companies use to target their age group. I love having these difficult conversations that they might not otherwise get the chance to talk about.
How can I get involved?
Great question! There are many different ways that you can help empower Knox County’s youth with the knowledge and resources to make healthy choices!
- MDC is always seeking volunteers to help out with our Generation Rx program. If you are interested in volunteering, click here to email Maria.
- Sign up for a presentation for your school, youth group, or organization. We can even tailor a presentation to meet your specific needs! Click here to email Maria with a request.
- As a non-profit, we rely on grant funding and donor funding to provide services to the community. Click here to invest in MDC’s prevention work.
- Follow MDC on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter. Share educational information and resources we post on your page.