The National Conference on Addiction Disorders will be held on August 16-20, 2017 at the Baltimore Marriott Waterfront Hotel. For more information or to register, visit https://vendome.swoogo.com/NCAD-2017.
HC DrugFree was among the community organizations to receive grants from the Rotary Club of Columbia Patuxent. The annual grant celebration breakfast was held at Linden Hall in Ellicott City.
Funds for these annual grants were raised by club members through volunteer activities, fundraisers, and donations.
Thank you to the Rotary Club of Columbia Patuxent for their generous donation and a special thank you to Glenelg United Methodist Church's Reverend Alice Ford for supporting HC DrugFree's mission. Pictured (left) Rotarian Reverend Alice Ford with HC DrugFree's Executive Director, Joan Webb Scornaienchi.
Today, HC DrugFree's Teen Advisory Council (TAC) participated in Damien's Run. This annual event to raise awareness of teen drug abuse was held at Patapsco State Park in Howard County.
Congratulations to current TAC members, Kyton Ovide (pictured left) and Adam Lowe (pictured right) for placing 1st and 2nd in the boys 15-19 age group and to college student, Oriana Ovide for placing 2nd in the girls 15-19 age group.
Thank you to all the TAC members and parents for participating in today's event.
HC DrugFree's staff continues to receive consistent and high-quality training to ensure we are strengthening our prevention practices, examining the latest research, and providing evidence-based prevention strategies in our daily work. This week, HC DrugFree's Executive Director attended a 4-day training offered through the Maryland Behavioral Health Administration. The training was held in Baltimore City at the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy and presented by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services's (SAMHSA's) Center for Application of Prevention Technologies (CAPT).
Pictured: The Program Manager for the Behavioral Health Research Team at the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy's Pharmaceutical Health Services Research Department (and former Hammond High School graduate), Nicole Sealfon; SAMHSA's national CAPT trainers, Casey Boyle and Marcus Bouligny; and HC DrugFree's Executive Director, Joan Webb Scornaienchi.
Welcome back to Howard County and congratulations to Dr. Michael Martirano, the newly-named Interim Superintendent for the Howard County Public School System. HC DrugFree's board and staff look forward to working with you and your staff.
Pictured below: Dr. Michael Martirano and HC DrugFree's Executive Director, Joan Webb Scornaienchi
Another semi-annual national Drug Take Back Day was held today between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. and HC DrugFree's convenient drive-thru collection site gathered 1,126.6 pounds of expired and unwanted prescription and over-the-counter medication and 13 large bins of "sharps" (needles, syringes, and EpiPens). Across Howard County, a total of 1,246.6 pounds of medications were collected today. Thank you to everyone working along with us in the 90+ degree weather today: the Howard County Police Department, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Adult Drug/DUI Treatment Court, the Howard County State's Attorney's Office, Soroptimist International Mid-Atlantic, HC DrugFree's Teen Advisory Council (TAC), and all our volunteers.
It takes a village and this village cares about our children, families, clean water, and the landfill.
HC DrugFree's board of directors and staff are proud to serve the Howard County community and thank you for supporting another successful medication and sharps collection. Pictured left to right: HC DrugFree's Board Emeritus and Circuit Court Judge William V. Tucker, Executive Director Joan Webb Scornaienchi, and HC DrugFree's Past Board Chair and Director of Psychiatry at Howard County General Hospital Dr. Andy Angelino
Tonight, more than 100 community members joined with HC DrugFree's team of partners from across Howard County to have an open and honest discussion about the drug and alcohol challenges facing our community.
As HC DrugFree and our team of partners have done for many years at similar events, we made ourselves available to answer questions, offer expertise, and share our passion to save lives and help families.
Thank you to the River Hill High School PTSA for partnering with us, all our partners, and all the parents and community members who attended.
Pictured front row left to right: Mark Donovan, Meghan Skaggs, Amanda Summers, Joan Webb Scornaienchi, Drema Bonavitacola, Stephanie Porter, Jason Shapiro, Andy Bonavitacola. Back row left to right: Herman Robertson, William Tucker, Erik Reid, Kim Oldham, Frank Eastham, and Andy Angelino.
Tonight, at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall in Baltimore, Joan Webb Scornaienchi was renamed One of Maryland’s Top 100 Women by The Daily Record and was one of eleven women inducted into the Circle of Excellence for women who have been honored three times.
Top 100 Women recognizes outstanding women for their professional accomplishments, community leadership and mentoring.
Pictured left to right: HC DrugFree's Board Emeritus, Judge William V. Tucker, Joan and her husband, John Scornaienchi
Today, at the Maryland Multicultural Conference held at Marriotts Ridge High School, Joan Webb Scornaienchi was awarded the 2017 Jack Epstein Award for exemplary contributions and commitment to multicultural education in Maryland.
Joan Webb Scornaienchi 2017 winner of the Jack Epstein Award
Pictured with past winners of the Jack Epstein Award from left to right: Later named Acting Superintendent of Howard County Public Schools (Previous State Superintendent of West Virginia Schools and Superintendent of St. Mary's County MD Public Schools) Dr. Michael Martirano, retired from the MD State Dept of Education Linda Shevitz, Joan, and retired from Harford County Public School System Cathy Price
The award was presented by the Maryland Multicultural Coalition, the state chapter of the National Association for Multicultural Education (NAME). This year's conference theme was Journey to Excellence with Equity in Education and marked the 38th anniversary of the Maryland Multicultural Coalition at the 24th annual Maryland Multicultural Coalition Conference.
The following six goals are central to the National Association for Multicultural Education's philosophy: * To respect and appreciate cultural diversity. * To promote the understanding of unique cultural and ethnic heritages. * To promote the development of culturally responsible and responsive curricula. * To facilitate acquisition of the attitudes, skills, and knowledge to function among various cultural groups. * To eliminate racism and discrimination in society. * To achieve social, political, economic, and educational equity.
Click here to read more about Jack Epstein and the creation of this award.
To prepare for our upcoming semi-annual medication and ‘sharps’ collection, HC Drug Free launched another Public Service Announcement.