Plainview-Old Bethpage School District to Host Opioid Forum

PLAINVIEW, N.Y. (October 26, 2017)—The Plainview-Old Bethpage School District announced today that it will host the Educators’ Conference on Substance Abuse in the Age of Opioids organized LI-CAN in cooperation with the Nassau County Council of School Superintendents and Suffolk County School Superintendents Association. The conference will take place on Tuesday, November 7, 2017 at Plainview-Old Bethpage Middle School and will act as a day of professional development to provide public and private school educators with the skills, tools, strategies and resources to more effectively prevent and respond to student substance abuse problems.

"Long Island CAN, the Plainview-Old Bethpage School District and our other partners in this conference are bringing together best practices from schools across Long Island and, through Dr. Harvey Milkman's participation, from around the world to help put a stop to this deadly epidemic," said Pastor Eric Olsen, Co-Chairperson of Long Island Congregations, Associations and Neighborhoods (LI-CAN). "When LI-CAN started our work in 2016 to help end the epidemic, the Plainview-Old Bethpage School District was in on the ground floor, as one of the first school districts on Long Island to develop comprehensive professional development programs and K-12 substance abuse prevention plans. By hosting this conference for educators from Plainview-Old Bethpage and other districts, it is not only making good on a commitment to professional development in its own community, they're extending that opportunity to schools across Long Island.”

“We are truly facing an epidemic across Long Island and New York State as it relates to substance abuse in our schools and across our communities,” said Dr. Lorna R. Lewis, Superintendent of the Plainview-Old Bethpage School District. “Some of the most influential mentors in students’ lives are the teachers, administrators and counselors they encounter every day. It is vitally important for these figures to be equipped to identify warning signs and properly articulate and remedy the solutions to substance abuse in our children.”

The keynote address will be given by Dr. Harvey Milkman, whose multifaceted approach has helped dramatically reduce teen substance abuse all over the world. Some other notable presenters include Nassau County Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder; Addiction Psychiatrist and Executive Director of YES Community Counseling Center, Dr. Leslie Marino; and Steve Chassman, Executive Director of the Long Island Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (LICADD).

“Our lineup of esteemed speakers have years of experience from diverse perspectives relating to the opioid epidemic,” Dr. Lewis added. “Dr. Milkman and the rest of our speakers have track records of success atremediating and substantially reducing the occurrences of teen substance abuse both nationally and abroad, and we are excited for them to share their expertise.”

The Educators’ Conference has been organized by LI-CAN in cooperation with the Nassau County Council of School Superintendents & Suffolk County School Superintendents Association with support from SCOPE Education Services, Guercio & Guercio, and Zimmerman/Edelson, Inc.

For more information about the Educators’ Conference and further programs organized by the Plainview-Old Bethpage School District, visit the District’s website: http://www.pobschools.org.