At the July 19 Whitehall-Coplay Communities That Care meeting, Denise Continenza, CTC coordinator, introduced Amy Dymond-Jones from Catasauqua Area School District. Dymond-Jones is a counselor at Catasauqua Middle School and will serve as moderator for the Catasauqua CTC-style group.

In previous meetings, Continenza reported that Catasauqua was looking to Whitehall-Coplay as a model for such a group. Continenza has worked with Dymond-Jones to help coordinate. Continenza noted Catasauqua already had a similar group, and it did not take much adjusting to fit into the CTC model.

After introducing herself, Dymond-Jones talked about the programs and projects already underway in Catasauqua. The Catasauqua Community Cares Program helps run the district’s backpack program, similar to Whitehall’s Snack Pack Pals. She noted that while this is still a new program, it is feeding approximately 128 students each week. The group also utilizes the Life Skills classes to help pack the bags, check inventory and deliver the bags.

CASD also takes part in the Pennsylvania Youth Survey. The 2018-19 school year saw a lot of changes for Catasauqua, including the addition of school resource officers, two in the district, and the addition of mental health professionals in the schools.

According to Dymond-Jones, the Catasauqua group, called the CASD PAYS committee, has three priorities identified for focus. They include strengthening of the emotional well-being of the students, supporting the economically disadvantaged in the district and decreasing drug and alcohol usage as well as gambling among the students.

Continenza reported members of the Catasauqua group will occasionally drop in and attend the Whitehall-Coplay meetings.

“We can learn from each other and share resources,” she said.

The meeting continued with discussion of the proposed community conversations. Continenza reached out to Whitehall Township Mayor Michael Harakal Jr. about the possibility of having regular community discussions. The original plan was to get community members together to talk about different topics such as recognizing youth in the community, economic development and more. Unlike a community watch group, these discussions would not be reactive to issues, but rather would encourage people to come together and work together to better their community. Michelle Khouri, Whitehall-Coplay School District registrar and community outreach coordinator, offered her assistance in getting this sort of program underway.

Stephanie Dorney, with Center for Humanistic Change, reported on the prevention programming happening in the district as well as the Student Assistance Program data. She noted there is extensive programming at Zephyr Elementary School, Whitehall-Coplay Middle School and Whitehall High School. Dorney reported the center is looking to extend programming into the other schools in the future.

The programs span different topics such as drug and alcohol awareness, gambling awareness, aggression control, making positive choices in life and more. Some programs are for students, and some are geared toward parents. Peer mentoring is used as well.

Dorney reported on the number of SAP referrals in the district for the 2018-19 school year. There were 32 referrals at Zephyr Elementary, 66 referrals at WCMS and 259 at WHS. She noted there was nearly 100 more referrals at the high school compared to last year because of vaping.

She said there was a higher number of self-referrals to SAP as well as a higher number of students referring friends. This was viewed as a positive thing because it means the programming is getting through to the students, and they are recognizing when they or a friend are in need of help and are taking positive steps to effect change.

The CTC next meets 8:30 a.m. Aug. 16 at Faith Evangelical Lutheran Church, 3355 MacArthur Road, Whitehall.