Thanks to everyone who entered the Project ALERT Video Contest! Your teams submitted some outstanding scripts and videos, and it was great to see your creative interpretations of the age-old question, “Should I do drugs to look cool?” Thankfully, your work showed that Lindsey (of Lindsey’s Choice) is still making the right choices!

Congratulations go out to Lake Howell High School in Winter Park, Florida! (Go Silverhawks!) You’re the winner of the $1,000 grand prize, an Amazon gift card to share among your production team! Excellent job of keeping Lindsey vape-free! Who knows just how her love-crush will turn out, but we’re betting Eric is going to miss Lindsey more than nicotine.

Additional congrats go to our runner-up writers, directors, videographers, and actors from Crestwood High School in Mantua, Ohio. Terrific job! The coffee shop setting was a great choice. An Amazon gift card is headed your way as well!

We thoroughly enjoyed congratulating and interviewing both teams via Zoom. Join the party on our winners' page and check out some fun photos and video links!

Nice teamwork, everyone! 

The RAND Corporation, the nonprofit institution that runs Project ALERT, received funding from the National Institute on Drug Abuse to test whether the updated Project ALERT curriculum could be even more effective with Getting To Outcomes – an implementation support framework that includes training, tools, and coaching supports found to improve outcomes of programs in over 20 years of research.

RAND is looking to partner with a limited number of school districts beginning in the 2023-24 school year. A few details follow:

• Teachers implementing Project ALERT will receive stipends to participate in the updated training.
• Project ALERT teachers who receive GTO coaching supports will receive an additional stipend for training and coaching time.
• The district will receive assistance in sustaining the program when the study ends.
• Participating teachers can receive between $520 and $1,520 each year.

To learn more about this rare opportunity to boost efforts to keep youth healthy and drug-free:

• Send us an email: ProjectAlertGTO@rand.org
• Call us toll-free at 1.833.634.1531

Google continues to entertain us with their security updates and other machinations. You can always find the most current link to our Google Drive on the Distance Learning page of our website. If you’re having trouble logging on to the drive, send us an email and we’ll be happy to assist.

Our Google Drive is your one-stop-shop for all things ALERT - the full curriculum, plus handouts, homework, posters, supplemental guides, and complete sets of slides for each lesson. Check it out today!

Monitoring the Future reports the following changes in the use of key substances in the Project ALERT curriculum for 8^th graders between 2021 and 2022. 

It's encouraging to see a decline of 27% in cigarette use and 18% in alcohol use among 8th graders! There was also a slight downturn in vaping nicotine. However, marijuana use if on the rise again, a 22% increase over the same 2-year period.

MTF tracks prevalence of use in 8th, 10th, and 12th grades for many commonly used substances. See here for complete information on what's trending.