FREE Life Skills Classes for Howard County Students

FREE and back by popular demand!!!

Life Skills Training for Middle School Students

15 FREE online sessions to begin on January 27, 2021

HC DrugFree is providing another series of FUN and interactive skills-based classes designed to promote positive health and personal development. This “Middle School” curriculum was designed for students in grades 6 to 9 so if you have questions about the appropriateness for your students, email us or register them, and we will contact you to confirm their enrollment. We encourage siblings and friends to take these classes together.

Our instructional team consists of adults with years of experience in related fields and highly talented college and high school students. Your student will learn how to handle very real situations they may face in middle and high school, college, and beyond and have plenty of opportunities to ask questions. Younger students listen to trusted older students!

This program will use developmentally appropriate, collaborative learning strategies so students will learn skills that have been shown to help resist high-risk behaviors including substance use (vaping, alcohol and other drugs) and more.

The 15-session training is scheduled for Wednesdays at 3:00 p.m. on Zoom. Classes are scheduled to begin on Wednesday, January 27 and run for 15 weeks thru May 5. Students are encouraged to attend all classes. Classes will begin at 3:00 p.m. and end by 4:00 p.m.

The curriculum is designed to strengthen student abilities in the following areas:

  • Personal Self-Management Skills: Students develop skills that help them enhance self-esteem, develop problem-solving abilities, reduce stress and anxiety, and manage anger.
  • General Social Skills: Students gain skills to meet personal challenges such as overcoming shyness, communicating clearly, building relationships, and avoiding violence.
  • Drug Resistance Skills:  Students build effective defenses against pressures to use tobacco, alcohol, and other drugs.
  • And more!!!


This class will be conducted online via Zoom. We will show videos, play Kahoot games, and use other interactive technology.

The curriculum includes the following units:

  • • Self-Image & Self-Improvement
  • • Making Decisions
  • • Smoking: Myths, Realities & Biofeedback
  • • Alcohol: Myths & Realities
  • • Marijuana: Myths & Realities
  • • Advertising
  • • Violence and the Media
  • • Coping with Anxiety
  • • Communication Skills
  • • Social Skills
  • • Assertiveness
  • • Resolving Conflicts

The 15 class series begins on Wednesday, January 27, 2021

Dates:

January 27 
February 3, 10, 17, & 24
March 3, 10, 17, 24 & 31
April 7, 14, 21 & 28
May 5

Please register by January 18, 2021. Space is VERY limited.

Message provided by HC DrugFree with funding from the Howard County Health Department, the MD Department of Health, and SAMHSA.

One Response to FREE Life Skills Classes for Howard County Students

  1. […] Since I moved to Howard County in fifth grade, I have been able to grow up—through elementary, middle, and high school—in this community. Now that I am over halfway done with college, I have had time to reflect on my experiences in the Howard County Public School System. Looking for a way to give back to the amazing community I grew up in, I applied to work for HC DrugFree with the intention of helping with their spring 2021 online Life Skills classes.  For me, I believe that HC DrugFree’s Life Skills class is a great opportunity to share what I have learned, as well as share advice I have gathered through my successes and shortcomings during my schooling. I also believe that this class is an invaluable experience for younger students to hear from others, who have recently been in their shoes, what they wished they knew at their age.Contributed by HCPSS graduate, College Student, and Middle School Life Skills instructor.Click here to learn more about HC DrugFree’s FREE Life Skills Training for Middle School Stude… […]