Choices That Matter Day updated for this year's eighth graders

"The Choices That Matter Day was filled with thrilling experiences. It showed us what is good and bad in life, and to pursue your dreams in life," one Worland Middle School eighth grader wrote after spending their day discussing topics such as drunk driving, unplanned pregnancy and STIs, addiction, mental health and suicide with local entities.

Worland Middle School hosted its Choices That Matter Day on May 3 with the help of Washakie County Prevention Coalition, Cloud Peak Counseling Center, Washakie County Public Health, local law enforcement, Wyoming Boys School, Bureau of Land Management and Bryant Funeral Home. The goal of the event is to teach eighth graders – soon to be high schoolers – about the long-term impact of their decisions through interactive demonstrations and discussions.

"The whole theme behind it is, 'don't let the decisions that you make today limit the choices that you get to make in the future,'" WMS Counselor Danielle Warren said. Warren explained that the educational event stemmed from Life RU Ready, a similar program developed in Gillette that used a simulated party to help students see how choices like drunk driving and illegal consumption could lead to consequences. Participants were given scenarios that lead them to either an imitation courtroom, the ER, a car crash or mortuary, then debriefed by counselors.

Warren said that the original program was effective for the first four or five years, but as students grew to expect the same thing every year, it started to lose its meaning. Worland Middle School adapted the event to include community organizations, which would present information through interactive experiences – driving golf carts with drunk goggles, repelling down gym walls, visiting jail cells, and changing baby doll diapers, to name a few.

At some point, WMS officials decided, "We've changed this enough, we should change the name," Warren said.

Originally, WMS groups were split off and only attended one activity each, then shared their reflections on the experience with the class. In 2019, Warren started the plan to have every student attend every station. However, when the pandemic hit, the program update was put on pause. After a three-year hiatus, the pre-pandemic plan was finally implemented, and Warren reported positive results.

Kendra Ware of Bryant Funeral Home agreed with Warren's conclusion, noting that the funeral home has participated in Choices That Matter Day since its beginning by teaching about texting and driving, but this year, tackled a new topic: suicide.

"Suicide in our community and neighboring communities is happening a lot right now, and we thought it was a more important topic to talk about with the kids," Ware said. Students were shown a video featuring a local resident who lost their brother to suicide. Then they were asked to list the emotions someone considering suicide might experience and compare to those of people who have lost someone to suicide. Ware said that the students noticed an overlap of shared emotions between the two groups, which was designed to show them that suicide does not eliminate negative feelings but passes them on to a wider community. They were also exposed to the resources available to them to help prevent suicide.

"I think it's just our moral duty to talk to each other about mental health," Ware said.

"We had a lot of positive feedback from the kids, and I think it was kind of a more personal affect with the kids than some of the years past."

Washakie County Youth Alternatives Program Director Katie Kirby was new to her position and the Choices That Matter event this year and was glad to see the community involvement in the kids' lives and teaching them about responsible decision-making as they mature.

"We only know what we know by what we've been exposed to... I think it's really important for [the kids] to know they have a voice and have options and what the steps are to take in order to access some of the resources that are designed for them here," Kirby said.