On May 21, three members of the Forks Community Coalition attended the Spring Youth Forum. At the forum, approximately 40 youth prevention teams from across Washington met at the Great Wolf Lodge to present their programs.

The youth were then divided up into eight different rooms with five youth programs being presented in each room. In each room there was an overall winning youth team based on the following criteria: innovation, sustainability, impact, presentation and professionalism, and collaboration and partnerships.

The Forks youth team consisted of Adan Almazon and Jeffrey Schumack with their adult advisor Phillip Sifuentes. Their presentation was in regards to part of the Forks Coalitions Strategic Plan and was titled Teaming For Resiliency.

This program was the brainstorming idea of several coalition members with a big influence from Mayor Byron Monohon. Teaming For Resiliency involves positive community bonding opportunities by having adult volunteers share skills with youth. The above-mentioned youth are part of an advisory committee that has been working on the program components.

Their presentation was in regards to the need for this program and the steps they are taking to promote positive community bonding. Once a room winner was selected, all teams met for a banquet where awards sere given for:innovation, sustainability, impact, presentation and professionalism, collaboration and partnerships, and a grand champion team which received a $5,000 check to attend Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America National Conference in Washington, D.C.

There the team will meet with their local congressmen to promote prevention efforts. Almazon and Schumack won the best prevention program for their room of five teams, which is quite an accomplishment with just two youth presenting (as most teams had eight or more youth presenting).

What is even more exciting is that they also won the Grand Champion Award of $5,000! Many said their presentation had people in tears. They have made great connections and several people want to come to Forks to be a part of the program, including Miss Washington and Russell Sherman from the Seahawks, to name just a few.