YAKIMA – Last week, three Oroville High School students attended the Washington State Prevention Summit in Yakima, Wash.

Oroville CARES Coalition Director, Marlene Barker and chaperone Traci Neal, were excited to introduce Xavier Macias, Konstantyn Lyashko and Jamen Griffin to prevention specialists and other youth teams from around Washington State.

The prevention community in Washington State has been meeting annually since the early 1980s. The goal of the 2017 Prevention Summit was to provide an enriching and culturally appropriate training and networking opportunity for youth and professionals who are working to prevent substance abuse within their communities, and promote healthy choices.

This year’s theme was “Use Your Voice’ and inspirational speakers urged youth to use their voices for purpose, power and prevention.

“Workshops regarding prevention methods and strategies were available, providing a safe learning environment and the enthusiasm was inspiring!” said Barker.

The Summit offered the prevention community time to reflect on past successes, learn new strategies, network with a variety of people and plan for the future.