The ACE Project kicked off activities related to a new partnership with the Miami Dade County Public School’s Student Success Centers (SSC) this month. The M-DCPS Student Success Centers serve as an educational setting and haven for referred students ages 11 and up. The purpose of the centers is to deliver academic and counseling support to students who have exhibited infractions of the Code of Student Conduct, which may have involved the use of vaping products. The partnership involves the ACE Project team visiting all of the SSCs as well as the Secondary Success Centers (S3Cs) to educate and present on the harms of vaping/e-cigarette use among teens. This will involve visiting 14 locations through the end of the school year.
The ACE project’s Co-Principal Investigator, Dr. Matthew Sutherland, and their Program Coordinator, Nasreen Hidmi, began the tour on November 1st at 500 Role Model Academy. They provided their educational presentation of the negative effects of vaping/e-cigarettes to over 20 students. On November 5th, they continued their presentations at the North Region Center, where they presented to over 25 students. Lastly, on November 15th, Dr. Sutherland and Ms. Hidmi visited the Parkway Educational Complex and gave their educational presentation to over 21 students. Later, on November 19th, Dr. Sutherland and Ms. Hidmi returned to Parkway Educational Complex, but this time to present to 18 students at the S3C Program, a program designed to accelerate educational experiences for students through computer-based instruction.
The team made some additional rounds out to other schools this month. Dr. Sutherland and Ms. Hidmi returned to Miami Macarthur Educational Center on November 4th to present to 30 school teachers and counselors about the harms of e-cigarette use among adolescents. Later in the month, Ms. Hidmi and Ms. Manresa, spent two days, November 14th and 15th, recruiting and presenting to over 150 students at Miami Coral Park Senior High School.
Finally, on November 20th, Dr. Elisa Trucco and Dr. Matthew Sutherland hosted a workshop at Florida International University open to the public as part of the FIU-RCMIs Community Engagement Speaker Series. The workshop provided up-to-date information on rates of e-cigarette use/vaping among teens, the impact of vaping on the body and brain, and reasons why teens are likely to start initiating e-cigarette use. They then concluded with exciting initial research findings from the ACE Project. The workshop garnered an excellent turnout with over 60 attendees!
In the past month, The ACE Project has presented to over 230 students and 100 professional personnel to educate on the harms associated with e-cigarette use. The ACE Project continues to expand their outreach efforts to educate the youth and the community on the risks of vaping.
