Pubdate: Sat, 13 Aug 2005
Source: Huntsville Item (TX)
Copyright: 2005 Huntsville Item and Community Newspaper Holdings, Inc.
Contact:  http://www.itemonline.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1126
Author: Matt Pederson
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/testing.htm (Drug Testing)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?225 (Students - United States)

NWISD DRUG TESTS STUDENTS

Students participating in extracurricular activities at New Waverly
High School are drug free, and school officials have the tests to prove it.

Students participating this fall in football, drill team,
cheerleading, band and volleyball were tested earlier this month. When
principal Chris McKinley received the results from those tests, he was
happy to see 100 percent of his students tested negative for any
illegal drugs, but insisted he had a feeling it would turn out that
way all along.

"Really, In my mind I thought everything would be OK, but I was really
excited and Dr. (Clay) Webb was elated as well," McKinley said.
"There's a lot of excitement over the first wave being all clear."

The first round of testing was administered Aug. 4. McKinley said
another round of tests will be administered Aug. 23, first at the
junior high and then at the high school to test students involved with
extracurricular activities who were not tested earlier in the month.

In starting the drug tests, McKinley said it is a way to not only
discourage students from using drugs, but to get help for those who
are.

"We want to let everyone know that we're going to do everything in our
power to prevent these kids from taking drugs," McKinley said. "We're
not out to kick anybody off the teams, we're out to get them help, if
need be. As of right now, we don't have a problem, so nobody has to go
to counseling or anything like that, but that's what it's going to be
about. It's not to try to get somebody or kick them off, it's to try
to save their life."

If a student's results come back positive, McKinley said the student
will have to go through counseling and show they are no longer using
drugs before they are allowed back into their extra-curricular activities.

NWHS nurse Beth McFadden believes this is an important program,
because it gives students a reason not to use drugs.

"I just think it's a wonderful tool to provide for the health of our
students, because it gives them the ability to have a reason to
decline to participate in drugs and alcohol," McFadden said. "At an
age when they might think, 'Why not?', now they have a reason why not.
They have the support of their peer group, because everybody else in
student council or on the baseball team is in the same boat.

"Hopefully, we can help them through a rough place in their
adolescence where they might make bad decisions, and by the time
they're out of school, they won't have made those bad decisions."
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MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin