Sprow
Bagrowski
Ally Sprow and Tayanna Bagrowski, are both members of Fulton County’s local youth-led prevention group, the Youth Advisory Council (YAC). Wanting to use their voice at the state level, Ally and Tayanna applied and were accepted into the Ohio Youth-Led Prevention Network (OYLPN) Youth Council.
YAC is a group of approximately 45 local high school students that use strategic planning to identify and address community level issues. The group has worked to affect many issues such as youth vaping, tobacco, marijuana, and alcohol use.
Currently the group believes that too many Fulton County high school youth are suffering from depression and anxiety and they are developing strategies to help improve mental health in their peers. Serving as YAC Leadership Board members, Ally and Tayanna, together with the remaining board members, work to develop the background planning and facilitation within this group.
OYLPN is a network of youth-led substance misuse prevention providers and youth across the state who are committed to the cornerstones of youth-led prevention, peer prevention, positive youth development and community service. This network includes Adult Allies and the OYLPN Youth Council, and it provides needed support for student, school and parent organizations, and can connect individuals with other like-minded groups in addition to providing resources, training, and more.
While YAC engages local high school students in understanding the importance of drug use/misuse prevention and mental health on the local level, the OYLPN Youth Council expands this concept unto the state level and engages a selection of high school-age young people from across Ohio. Through guidance from adult allies, the youth council identifies priority areas they develop through a strategic planning process to implement activities and messaging to their peers across the state.
Visit HC3Partnership.org to learn more about HC3, or visit HC3Partnership.org/YAC to learn more about YAC. Contact HC3’s Program Director, Beth Thomas, at 419-337-0915 or by email at [email protected] with any questions.
