CHARLESTON, W.Va. –
“Know your worth.” These three simple words have guided the nearly yearlong relationship between U.S. Air Force Maj. Stacy Brown, West Virginia National Guard (WVNG) Drug Demand Reduction (DDR) coordinator, and the students at Ashford Rumble Elementary School in Boone County, West Virginia.
This particular 5th grade class at Ashford Rumble Elementary developed a special bond with Brown. Just last week, at the conclusion of the school year, the class presented Brown with a hand-stitched quilt with all their individual handprints painted on it and she returned the favor with a military challenge coin designed specifically for the 5th graders.
“I created a challenge coin for the class for their 5th grade graduation ceremony,” stated Brown. “On one side was the motto, ‘Know Your Worth,’ and on the other side was, ‘Believe, Succeed.’
Brown believes that if students know their worth, they will be less likely to start or do drugs.
“You will have a positive outlook for your future,” she told the students. “This was my gift to them. When they presented me with the quilt, it just blew me away! I just couldn’t believe it.”
Active in 16 counties around the state with 7 Soldiers and Airmen, the DDR program focuses on teaching leadership, civic duty, self-esteem, positive choices and drug awareness to youth through mentorship and engagement with WVNG Soldiers and Airmen. Through strategic partnerships, the WVNG works with state agencies to develop anti-drug coalitions while energizing effective prevention practices focused on reaching youth in schools and communities. Currently, the program reaches more than 4,900 students annually, with that number growing as the program expands.
With DDR since 2018 when the program was reinstated, Brown spends her time travelling around the state, bringing encouragement and positive role modelling to students.
“When I first started, I thought, well okay, hopefully, maybe I could touch a few lives and read to the kids and encourage them,” said Brown. “But I didn’t realize the impact my presence and that of all the DDR team members would have. Now, after seeing the smiles, hearing the stories of how kids that were always quiet and closed off to teachers and counselors have come out of their shells and engaged with us in uniform, and feeling the love the kids give right back to us, I couldn’t be more proud or more passionate about what we in DDR do.”
And while the positive impact on students and for schools has been tremendous, it has been equally positive for Brown.
“DDR has reignited my determination to always try and do the right thing,” she stated. “I try to instill in the kids the desire to believe in themselves and to keep pushing forward. To try and do good. You are going to struggle. You are going to fail sometimes. But you always try to make it right if you can.”
As the DDR program continues to expand into new communities and impact more and more lives across West Virginia, Brown plans to be right there on the front lines making a difference.
“The most important thing we can do to have a positive impact is to spend time with the kids,” said Brown. “With the opioid epidemic and drug use in general ravaging our communities, the best way to change lives and change the direction of the next generation is to spend time with them and provide them positive role models that prove to them they can rise above and be healthy, clean citizens and adults. This is a war we must win! And DDR is out there every day fighting to help our kids win.”
For more information on the WVNG DDR program and how it might benefit your community, please contact Maj. Stacy Brown at 304-416-1835, or via email at stacy.e.brown2.mil@mail.mil.