Three members of Clinton’s Partners in Community (PIC) have received recognition from two separate organizations for their contributions in reducing Clinton youth’s substance abuse.

PIC is a group that works to combat youth substance abuse and promote a healthy lifestyles for students in Clinton. In recognition of that mission, the Connecticut Association of Prevention Professionals (CAPP) gave a former Morgan School student and a PIC administrator honors for their work.

PIC Coordinator Kelley Edwards was awarded the Prevention Professional of the Year.

“I think my first response was something like ‘No way,’” Edwards said of learning she’d won. “The kindness and appreciation penned into the nomination by my colleagues meant so much. To know that they value what I bring to town and to substance abuse prevention—and that they thought I deserved the top honor—makes the hard days worth it. Definitely one of the highlights of 2020 for me!”

Edwards said what made the award extra special was that she didn’t know she had been nominated. She learned after the fact that fellow PIC members Kim Inglis, Shelby Auletta, Shelby Mehmet, and David Melillo had nominated her. Headed into a virtual meeting where the award winners were announced in October, Edwards said she was only aware of the Clinton youths who were set to be recognized and wasn’t aware that she herself had also earned an award.

Evidence of Edwards’s successful work with PIC, with which she has been involved for years, can be seen in the results of a survey given to Clinton students last year. In 2019, 31.9 percent of The Morgan School seniors stated in an anonymous survey that they had consumed alcohol in the past 30 days. In 2014, that number had been as high as 53 percent. The 2019 survey also indicated that overall usage rates of other substances were also declining when compared with five years earlier.

In addition to Edwards, two young members of Clinton were also given awards for their work in preventing substance abuse by their peers. Sarah Auletta, a 2020 Morgan grad, was awarded the Youth Sector All-Star by CAPP and Morgan senior Bianca Arias was awarded the Youth of the Year award by the Connecticut Youth Services Association.

The CAPP Youth Sector All-Star goes to a young person dedicated to preventing youth substance use and promoting positive mental health in their community.

Auletta was a member of REACT, a youth group that is part of PIC, for seven years and is now a PIC peer assistant.

In a press release, John Daviau of CAPP said, “Sarah has exemplified superb qualities of youth leadership, encouraging positive changes in the public health and policy arenas to make prevention a priority.”

While these awards are special honors, they are not the first time that CAPP has recognized PIC. In 2019, Kim Inglis won Parent Volunteer of the Year and in 2018, REACT won for Youth of the Year. In 2017, the late Mike BonTempo, then a health teacher in Clinton who helped spearhead substance prevention efforts in Clinton, won an award for School Representative of the Year.

“We have been very fortunate to have exceedingly high functioning volunteers every year who deserve the recognition and awards from CAPP,” Edwards said.

The Connecticut Youth Services Association Youth of the Year award is given to a youth who has shown “leadership in positive youth development, prevention, youth leadership and youth initiative” according to a press release from PIC.

Arias is the current president of REACT, attended several conferences aimed at prevention efforts, is a member of the Governor’s Prevention Partnership advising the youth council, and has run workshops for the Girls Leadership Conference in Guilford. Edwards said that there are 99 youth service bureaus that serve all 142 towns in the state and all 99 are able to nominate someone for this award, meaning Arias won in a very competitive category.

“To have Bianca chosen to win from a pool of outstanding young people doing all sorts of positive things is very special. Bianca has had meaningful influence on her peers across the shoreline throughout the last four years, and has earned the spotlight. This is the first time a Clinton youth has won this recognition, and we are very proud,” said Edwards.

Edwards said that it felt good to see the young people in town rewarded for their hard work, especially when that work comes in a field that might not be popular with some of their classmates.

“It is especially rewarding to see Clinton youth standing up for potentially unpopular life choices—remaining substance free—encouraging peers to follow their lead, and for the state of Connecticut to acknowledge how very valuable that is. I wish that more organizations would shine the light upon youth who are making good choices and really taking the lead on important issues,” said Edwards.