Number of Participants: 175
Hours Donated: 20
Value of Time Served: $29,575
Event Type: Health & Safety
Sport: Team
School: Somers Senior High School
Date: May 26, 2021
Location:
Somers High School
Primrose Street, Lincolndale
NY
About:
We have a club at Somers High School called S.A.A.S.A. which stands for Student Athletes Against Substance Abuse. Our club is made up of all athletes and work to raise awareness for a healthy lifestyle with a focus on harmful substances (alcohol, nicotine, marijuana, etc.). I am the Advisor for the club and also the Student Assistance Counselor for the high school. The club members focus on various themes throughout the year and CODA was a priority for messaging this year.
The harris project focuses on providing education, resources, and awareness to CODA which very much falls in line with the mission of our club. Stephanie Marquesano, the Founder of the harris project, presented to our athletes in the fall and truly resonated with students, several in particular. The club members who were so passionate about it wanted to share with their athletic community in the high school and also with the family members of those participating in sports.
In history, CODA games have been an avenue for awareness and has occurred in various communities throughout Westchester County, but was new to Somers this year. Three students (all seniors) who were passionate about the message decided they wanted to have multiple CODA games to further spread their message, despite restrictions that have been in place due to COVID.
The students discussed ways to utilize the colors of the harris project (green, black and white) and decided on green masks, streamers to decorate, hair ties with ribbon for girls’ teams, balloons and materials provided by Stephanie Marquesano which included stickers, bracelets, pins, informational material, and additional streamer and balloons.
The students retrieved the number of team members from each sport, created a letter and sent to coaches requesting their participation, created bags for each of the teams participating with materials, decorated on site of game day, assisted with communicating the importance of the information to multiple teams, and spoke to spectators which were mostly family members of team members. The students also took pictures of the teams and game shots to advertise participation.
The students did an amazing job and we are very fortunate to have an Athletic Department that is conscientious of not only our students’ physical health, but their mental and overall well-being as well.
Six teams participated altogether (JV and V Volleyball, Cheerleading, Freshman Football, JV Football, V Football) and approximately 10 Coaches were involved, 175 students and 75 spectators throughout the five games.
Overall – I would say the seniors contributed about 20 hours between planning, organizing, decorating, speaking to spectators, taking pictures, and cleaning up after each event.
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From
stephanie marquesano
founder & president of the Harris project:
