Adams County students rally for drug-free clubs at courthouse

Adams County’s first Drug Free Clubs of America rally turned the courthouse lawn in West Union into a public test of how far school-based prevention can reach. More than 100 students and staff were expected, and students from the Adams County Ohio Valley School District’s CTC, Peebles, North Adams and West Union High School marched from the Adams County Training and Business Center to the courthouse behind Sheriff Kenny Dick’s cruiser.

The event, held Friday, April 17, was more than a photo line for signs and matching shirts. County commissioners had already approved courthouse grounds use for the rally, and the program was built around a message that healthy choices can be reinforced with real incentives, not just assemblies. Students who join the clubs do so with parent consent and private drug testing, and those who test negative become members. Families stay informed through a separate parent program.

For teenagers, the draw is concrete. Members get an identification card that unlocks rewards from participating businesses and schools, including no-uniform days, club shirts, lunch-related privileges, parking-space decoration, a kayaking day and other perks. Organizers have said that structure gives the effort more teeth than a slogan campaign because the benefits are tied to sustained behavior.

Adams County Youth Prevention coordinated the rally under Tami Graham, Danielle Poe and Justin Maddox. Pastor Michael Parks hosted the morning program, while County Engineer Lee Pertuset, GE Aerospace human resources manager Jalyn Smith and Judge Brett Spencer spoke about how staying drug-free connects to future jobs, responsibility and self-respect.

The rally also fit into a broader county prevention push that has been building for years. A local prevention committee began in 2015 to gather data on youth drug, alcohol, vaping and tobacco use. That work led to the formation of the Adams County Youth Prevention Coalition in October 2023, which met the requirements for a federal Drug-Free Communities grant. The county was notified in September 2024 that it would receive the grant, which took effect the next month and reimburses $125,000 a year for five years of prevention work.

Coalition leaders want the program to keep growing. Membership is already around 120 students, and organizers hope to expand into Manchester and Adams County Christian School. The local effort is tied to the Adams County Medical Foundation and the Adams County Health and Wellness Coalition, and it has already been linked with Red Ribbon activities and National Drug Take Back Day.

Drug Free Clubs of America says its model, founded in 2005 by firefighters responding to drug-related tragedies, uses five prevention layers and now spans more than 50 chapters across Ohio, Kentucky and West Virginia. In Adams County, the courthouse rally showed the county trying to build a visible peer culture around that model, with schools, parents and leaders all pressed into the same prevention system.