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| Tomcat BridgeBuilders: Becky Handa and Diana Chalfant |
On
July 6, 2024, Tomcat Bridgebuilders
released their best-selling book of student essays, Young Voices From a
Small Town. They have sold over 1,000 books through their effort to support drug-free
communities in southeastern Ohio. Through profound student essays, they inspire
others to commit to a drug-free environment where students thrive, focus on the
good, and believe they can make an impact by being a young voice with a
powerful message.
Becky Handa serves as the
Director of Tomcat Bridgebuilders, an organization working to support students’
academic and community engagement. Bridgebuilders operates nationally with the
goal of encouraging youth to make healthy choices.
Welcome,
Becky!
GM:
What inspired the creation of the book "Young Voices From a Small
Town"?
BH:
It all started with an intention to get students more involved during Red
Ribbon Week at Trimble school. I announced to all students’ 4th-8th
grade if they wanted to write an essay about why it is important to be drug
free and live in a drug free community, they could be entered to win a prize at
Friday’s assembly that week. What I wasn’t expecting was the overwhelming
response of personal stories children chose to share about how substance abuse
has affected their life. During the week
of essay writing, I observed peer connection, vulnerability, resilience, and
empowerment. The staff were interested and wanted to read the student essays
the kids and it became clear that their voices needed to be heard.
GM:
How did you select the children who contributed to this project?
BH:
The building I serve is preschool through eighth grade. For this project I
thought it was most appropriate for grade 4th-8th to
participate. Any student who wrote an essay had the opportunity to have their
essay in the book if a parent or guardian gave permission. Parental Consent was
the most challenging pieces of this project.
GM:
Can you share a memorable moment or story from the book's creation process?
BH:
I absolutely loved this entire project but my most memorable moment was
watching the transformation of our students and staff in the building. The
project inspired change, reduced stigma and shame around Mental Health and
Substance Use Disorder and brought our small community closer.
GM:
What are some of the key challenges faced when promoting a drug-free lifestyle
among youth?
BH:
Key Challenges are, accessibility of drugs, breaking the family cycle, healthy
coping skills with at risk populations facing much adversity, peer influence,
impulsive decision making, conforming to what youth believe to be normal or
trending.
GM:
How do you believe this book will impact the children who participated and the
broader community?
BH:
I believe sharing our lived experiences aloud can be therapeutic. Knowing we
aren’t alone in the struggles we face. Empowering children that their voice
matters, and they can change their future and their community’s future. The
book raises awareness that our young people watch us and what we do matters
whether the impact is positive or negative.
GM:
In what ways does Bridgebuilders support the local school district and its
students?
BH:
The Tomcat Bridgebuilders provides annual scholarships to Trimble High School
students. We have an internship program for high school students to promote
career readiness and the importance of giving back to your community through
service projects. We also provide mini-grants to support healthy youth
activities like After Prom, Model UN, archery, band, athletics,
social-emotional groups, weekend food bag programs, provide free books for
literacy night and after school programs.
We are also the primary funder of Red Ribbon Week for the entire
district and promote data driven resources like OH YES survey to know how to
best support the students.
GM:
How do you measure the success and effectiveness of your initiatives, like this
book?
BH:
We have a survey on our website and hand out the survey to our community
partners and Trimble school staff. Part of our mini-grant process is for a
representative of the group to come speak to the TBB board at our monthly
meetings to provide feedback and discuss successes and/or struggles of the
project we sponsored.
GM:
What future projects or goals do you have for the Bridgebuilders organization?
BH:
The Tomcat Bridgebuilders has a goal to one day have a second volume of Young
Voices from a Small Town book. The goal is to have even more youth
involvement, so not only the youth being the author but the illustrator of the
cover page and help make discissions on the structure of the book. We want the
kids to feel ownership of the book because it is their book, they are the
authors, creators, and inspiration for change.
GM:
How can community members get involved or support the work that Bridgebuilders
is doing?
BH:
The Tomcat Bridgebuilders have community meetings on the first Wednesday of the
month at 5:30 pm at the Glouster Library except for the month of July. They can
also check out our website www.tcBridgebuilders.org
or find us on Facebook at Tomcat Bridgebuilders.
GM:
What message would you like to share with the youth of Trimble Township who may
be struggling with peer pressure and making healthy choices?
BH:
“Peer pressure is actually the pressure you put on yourself!” Be confident in
who you are and what you want! Being your unique self is when you are most
beautiful! If it feels wrong find a safe way out of the situation. Talk to a
person you trust for support.
Connect with Becky…
Buy the Book Young Voices From a Small Town
Website:
Tomcat Bridgebuilders
Facebook:
Tomcat Bridgebuilders
Insta: Tomcat Bridgebuilders
Media: WOUB Interview
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