Texas Teens Dancing Against Drugs, Alcohol

We're spending the week in San Antonio for the Reclaiming Futures Leadership Institute (which you may already know if you're following @RFutures on Twitter). For those not on Twitter, we'll be posting updates here on the blog and on Facebook.
This afternoon, local teens from SACADA (San Antonio Council on Drug and Alcohol Abuse)'s HYPE group (Helping Youth Prevention through Entertainment) used choreographed hip hop dances to promote their healthy, drug-free lives. One dance featured one teen's struggle to resist peer pressure to use drugs and alcohol and ended with him saying a powerful NO and walking away. It was followed by a lighter number where they taught our treatment, judicial, community and program fellows how to do the electric slide!
When asked to share their reasons for joining the group, HYPE members mentioned the importance of being substance free and how good it felt to be making a difference for their peers and younger students. Reclaiming Futures isn't their normal audience. HYPE can often be found dancing for local elementary schools and speaking with students about the dangers of drugs and alcohol. 
HYPE members received not one, but TWO, much deserved standing ovations. Check them out!

Liz Wu is a Digital Accounts Manager at Prichard Communications, where she oversees digital outreach for Reclaiming Futures and edits Reclaiming Futures Every Day. Before joining the Prichard team, Liz established the West Coast communications presence for the New America Foundation, where she managed all media relations, event planning and social media outreach for their 6 domestic policy programs. Liz received a B.A. in both Peace and Conflict Studies and German from the University of California at Berkeley. She tweets from @LizSF.