PA Attorney General’s Office
and Local Officials Present Drug
Prevention Program at CMS
S
anon-Mac
C A NO N- MAC S C HOO L D IS TRI C T N E WS
tate Rep. Brandon Neuman stood
before the Canonsburg Middle School
student body and asked a simple
question: Who wants to be successful?
The query prompted every hand in the
auditorium to shoot up almost in unison.
Neuman, a Canon-Mac alum, was
flanked by representatives from the
Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office and
the Washington County District Attorney’s
Office, as well as Canonsburg Mayor David
H. Rhome, and told students that’s why
they were all assembled: To talk about
one of the best decisions they can make –
staying away from drugs and alcohol.
Agent Philip Little, of the attorney
general’s office, also addressed students,
telling them about the dangers of drugs
CMHS Art Students Win
Made by Milk Contest
and concentrating on the type most
commonly abused by 12 and 13-year-olds:
The ones prescribed by a doctor.
He said many young people don’t realize
that medication prescribed by a doctor
could be dangerous or addictive, and said
that, for many, the jump from use to abuse
to addiction is sometimes a gradual one.
Little then presented a video that told
the real-life addiction story of a teenager
named Mike: A young man who was
severely injured in a car accident, and
who later received opioid prescription
medication to treat the associated pain.
Through interviews, Mike tells his
addiction story: That is started with taking
more pills than prescribed, then looking for
pain relief when his prescription ran out in
the form of heroin – first sniffing it and later
shooting it.
Through the process,
he lost everything from
respect and opportunities
to friends. He ended up in
rehab, and also in jail.
Mr. Little, Rep. Neuman
and Mayor Rhome asked
students to use Mike’s
story as a cautionary tale – and implored
them to not only make the best decision (to
avoid drugs), but to make sure that if they
see a friend or classmate who is struggling
with drug abuse, to say something.
“You are our greatest hope to beat
addiction,” Rep. Neuman said.
Prevent
Drug and
Alcohol
Addiction
Photo from the project.
C
anon-McMillan High School’s Concept and Creative
Thinking class was one of six across the country to win The
Made By Milk contest, one that tasked students will
repurposing milk cartons and transforming them into art.
Ms. Ashley VanAuken’s class spent four weeks this past fall
transforming 1,300 milk cartons into a project it titled, “Circle of
Life” and that consisted of a menagerie – a giraffe, elephant, Panda
and more. And it was all made from the recycled cartons.
The class used paper, tape and hot glue – as well as art concepts
they’ve learned in class, as well as a lot of patience and team work
to create the various pieces that composed the project.
And with any long-term team project, there were some
proverbial bumps in the road. But the Concept and Creative
Thinking Class didn’t struggle with artistic differences.
Some of the students just struggled with the slight stink of
spoiled milk emanating from the recycled cartons.
That occupations hazard aside, students said they were both
excited and surprised to learn that their project had received a
$1,000 prize.
64 Canon-Mac
“We were kind of all dumbfounded,” junior Mikaylah Snedeker.
“There were a lot of good projects.”
The money will be used to purchase a chrome cart for the art
department.
Congratulations to all involved!