Randolph-Henry High School (RHHS) Team 2 recently received one of 19 Strategies to Act Now (STAN) mini grants from the Virginia Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC). The team received $250 to support its substance use prevention efforts.

RHHS Team 2 joins the following schools across Virginia in receiving such mini grants:

Amherst County, Blessed Sacrament Huguenot Catholic School (Powhatan County), Bluestone High School (Mecklenburg County), Chancellor High School Team 1 (Spotsylvania County), CHILL (Communities Helping Improve Local Lives) Team 1 (Martinsville/Franklin County), CHILL Team 2 (Martinsville/Franklin County), City of Newport News Team 1, City of Newport News Team 2, Gar-Field High School Team 5 (Prince William County), Glenvar High School (Roanoke County), Heritage High School Team 3 (Newport News), James River High School (Botetourt County), Loudon County Public Schools, Stuarts Draft High School Team 1 (Augusta County), Surry County Office on Youth Team 2, Warwick High School Team 1 (Newport News), West Point High School Team 2 and Woodside High School Team 1 (Newport News).

ABC’s annual $500 Wheeler Award went to the Lafayette Drug and Alcohol Resistance Team (LDART) at Williamsburg’s Lafayette High School, which used the enticement of ice cream and pizza to achieve a very ambitious goal: getting teens to engage in a substance-free event instead of using drugs and alcohol.

About 114 students attended LDART’s March 31 event and completed a scavenger hunt that challenged students to answer questions about drugs and alcohol and promoted important peer-to-peer conversations. The event was the brainchild of four team members — Lafayette High School seniors Ayanna Coan, Patricia Bryant, Risharda Smith and Le’Paris Moore — who participated in Virginia ABC’s Youth Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention Project (YADAPP).

YADAPP is a year-long peer leadership program that begins each summer when high schools and community groups send teams to participate in a five-day conference. Teams broaden their knowledge of substance abuse prevention and work together to create STAN Plans to be implemented during the following school year.

The Wheeler Award, established in 1986, honors Morris and Billie Wheeler for their dedication to Virginia’s youth. The Wheeler’s daughter, Sandy, was killed by a drunk driver in 1981.