5-29-15 Plans for the end Neural Activity Project

After talking to my group we decided to put together a bigger event in order to promote Neural Activity. We are planning on doing this event in the fall when the new students come from the middle schools. We want to do a parent student information night for any students and parents in the Grand Valley but it will be hosted at Palisade High School. We decided that if we get the okay from Mr. Bollinger we will have a couple different rooms with guest speakers that will talk about different forms of drugs and inform students and parents. To have a successful night we will have to get the word out to the public, I am currently working on a proposal to put in the District newspaper, that will hopefully encourage teachers to join as well. We are still debating if we will make flyers to deliver to schools because that is an expense and we would have to do some sort of fundraising for. It is crucial that our information is all true and full of exact facts. Otherwise we would be misleading to our audiences. The goal of this night will be for parents and students to understand how students don't have to feel pressured into doing drugs, because we are providing them with ways to live a healthy yet fun lifestyle. We are not putting on this event to discuss over and over why drugs are bad but instead encourage students to live to their full potential.

4-30-15 Interview with 104.3

     Today I had an interview at 104.3 in order to promote the Sober Hero Party that Neural Activity is putting on for Juniors and Seniors. I was terrified when I got there, I was afraid that I would forget my line or just mix up my words. When I walked into the office I met the radio DJ, Dan and he told me that he wants to do a video with me and a few other kids explaining why we are apart of Neural Activity. This made me even more nervous because not only did I have to remember my line I also had to quickly put together a reasoning behind why I am part of this program and why I choose to be Sober. This got me to thinking Why do I participate in Neural Activity?
       After thinking about that for a while I realized that I needed to speak from the heart. I joined Neural Activity because I think we have a huge drug problem with adolescents across the world. I joined because I see kids in my community that have done drugs and have seen their lives change, because they either got caught, or it changed them completely as a person. I want to be part of a movement that encourages kids to live a sober life free of alcohol and drugs. I want to start a ripple effect in the grand valley where soon everyone is promoting this drug free lifestyle, and maybe that will create a change in the United States and then in the world.
      Although I was terrified about the interview it went great, and it's pretty awesome to hear your own voice on the radio. Hopefully we can get a lot of people to come support this Sober Hero Party at Lincoln Park Pool.

2/21/15 Polar Plunge

Today was the Polar Plunge out by High Line Lake. The Neural Activity group organized this event as a fundraiser, in order to expand the club but at the same time put on different outdoor adventure activities for the group. I got there around 9am to start setting up the even, we set up tables, soup, and warming tents for the event. People paid $15 to jump into the freezing water in front of the camera. We were hoping to have way more people show up so we could at least break even. Although there were only around 20 people that actually jumped into the water we still ran out of hot chocolate. We hung posters around the school and announced it over the announcements but there was still a very small participation. If we were to do this event again, I would get the word out sooner and make sure to have enough hot chocolate, soup, and spoons. Although it didn't turn out like we were expecting, Neural Activity got their name out to the public! Hopefully people will start to recognize this program and join some of our really cool events. Even though it was cold and we had a small group participating I got to meet a lot of new kids that came to volunteer.