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Dana Quesinberry
Genny Jenkins
Rowan County UNITE Coalition
Rowan County Schools
Rowan County, KY
 Dana
Quesinberry is
the Executive Director
for Rowan UNITE, a
community anti-drug
coalition.
 10 years of prevention
experience
 Also the mother of two
teenagers, age 19 and
16
 Genny
Jenkins is the
gifted specialist for the
Rowan County school
system.
 16 years of teaching
experience
 Also the mother of
three boys, ages 15,
12, and 10.
 The
Common Core Standards are the blueprint by
which teachers plan their classroom instruction.
 Included in the middle school standards are three
types of writing (narrative, explanatory, and
argumentative).
 “Write arguments to support claims with clear
reasons and relevant evidence”
 In elementary school, argumentative is called
“opinion” and in high school it’s called
“argumentative with analysis.”
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Writing in schools – Program Review
WRITING: PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND SUPPORT SERVICES,
Demonstrator 2d) Teachers regularly collaborate with community,
business and postsecondary partners through advisory committees,
work exchange programs and community groups with a focus on writing.
WRITING: CURRICULUM AND INSTRUCTION, Demonstrator 2b)
Curriculum integrates the strands of literacy (reading, writing, speaking,
listening, and language use) across content areas to explicitly instruct
and develop communication skills.
WRITING: CURRICULUM AND INSTRUCTION, Demonstrator 2e)
Curriculum provides opportunities for students to practice 21st century
critical thinking, collaboration, creativity, problem- solving and
communication skills and to connect these to real world experiences.
th
8
grade classroom
20 students
High achievers/leaders
Guest
Speaker
Presented as a neutral topic for
consideration
Background information provided
(very little online research)
Audience was legislators
Students
used a graphic organizer to
begin work.
They chose a stance and then argued
their position.
Out of the 20 students, several of them
wrote in favor of legalization.
Three of them wrote in favor of legalizing
hemp as a crop.
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What you need?
o Interested teacher/administrator
o Identified substance abuse prevention need
o Creativity in integrating into subject matter
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Other areas for integration of prevention in academic
settings
Health/physical education
Family and Consumer Sciences
Science class
Math & Statistics
Communications/speech
Businesses classes
Social Studies
Even art and music
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Barriers to implementation of prevention strategies in
schools
o Level of expertise
o Academic/instructional time vs. prevention programming
o Disinterest by administration
o Parental kick-back – “Don’t teach them about drugs” attitude
o Others?
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Strategies for resolution
o Through the barrier – Be persistent!
o Around the barrier – Be prepared, be factual, be persuasive!
o Over the barrier – WIFM?
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Genny Jenkins website: Rowan County Schools, click on
Rowan County Middle School, Click on Teacher Websites
Common Core Website
Kentucky Program Review website
dana.quesinberry@rowan.kyschools.us
genny.jenkins@rowan.kyschools.us
www.rowanunite.org