On February 13, 2007, Eisenhower Middle School hosted, "The Game of Life", a collaborative effort through the United Way of Morris County, Morris County Child Abuse Prevention Collaboration, and EMS. This program introduced services available to our eighth grade students in varied areas of identified need, and provided them with general and referral information for issues that they may experience in the future or may have already been affected by.
Seventeen different service providers participated in the event: The United Way, Child and Family Resources, Council on Compulsive Gambling, Daytop, Division of Youth and Family Services (DYFS), Family Service of Morris County, First Call for Help, Jersey Battered Women’s Service, Morris County Prosecutor’s Office, Roxbury Police Department, Roxbury School Guidance, Morris County Sexual Assault Center, Morristown Memorial Hospital: Teen Health FX, Roxbury Public Health Department, Roxbury Municipal Alliance Committee, Step Ahead Counseling, St. Clare’s Hospital: The Center for the Protection of Children, Safe Haven, Girls Rule Program. Each of these providers had a table set up with information for our students which explained what their program offers and how to contact them, as well as handouts for the students to take with them for future reference.
“The Game of Life” was set up so that each student was presented with a scenario, “Your friends are drinking often and you don’t want to, but you don’t want to lose your friends, what do you do?” Then, they needed to solve the scenario. The students were encouraged to educate themselves with all of the different agencies available and the services that they offer and figure out which agencies would help them with their scenario. The students were very receptive and learned a great deal about issues that students their age may face including how to get help for these issues.
The Roxbury School District is thankful to the The United Way of Morris County & Morris County Child Abuse Prevention Collaboration for supporting this amazing event. Participants in this program were able to learn about issues that face peers their own age, as well as services available to them in order to find solutions and services to assist them when situations arise in their future.
The support of Eisenhower Middle School Guidance Counselors, Mrs. Geri Esposito, Mrs. Megan Pacini, and Ms. Penny Sharp helped make this event a success!