In Garvin County, Lindsay Elementary School Counselor Kassi Turner and Maysville Superintendent Shelly Hildebrand-Beach have teamed up with the goal of wiping out Oklahoma’s opioid epidemic.
Both school districts received grants last year from the Oklahoma Opioid Abatement Board through funding from opioid lawsuit settlements. Lindsay was awarded $58,500 and Maysville received $35,000 for education, prevention and harm reduction measures. The grants, part of a statewide effort to address Oklahoma’s opioid crisis, are distributed by the Office of the Attorney General to participating cities, counties, school districts and public trusts.
In 2018, Turner and her husband, Kent, a member of the Oklahoma National Guard Counterdrug Task Force, created the PASS Prevention Coalition to help make Garvin County schools drug-free. PASS stands for Preventing addiction, Acting in faith, Supporting our community, and Serving with love. The coalition is an active group of educators who collaborate to share information and resources.
“It can be challenging to find lockboxes for medication storage or the right motivational speaker to bring in,” Turner said. “By learning what worked for one school or getting help finding a vendor, we’re able to implement our grant money more efficiently.”
The coalition also has developed surveys for students, parents, law enforcement, community organizations and businesses to learn how they can best serve the county.
About 12 miles east in Maysville, Hildebrand-Beach is personally teaching Botvin Life Skills, a substance abuse prevention curriculum, to sixth, seventh and eighth graders. She initially planned for a school resource officer to teach the courses, but when one was not available, she stepped in to fill the role.
“The middle school students have said they enjoy the life-skills lessons and that they are actually making them think about things they normally would not have,” she said. “The curriculum is providing them with strategies to succeed.”
In addition to the Botvin curriculum, Maysville has implemented Dynamic Influence educational programs for parents, community members and students. The school district has partnered with the Chickasaw Nation to make Deterra packs and Narcan available for parents who participate in the initiative.
In Lindsay, Turner emphasizes the importance of taking a proactive approach to prevention and safety. She said the district used data from the Oklahoma Prevention Needs Assessment survey to inform its grant application. The survey, which is administered to sixth-, eighth-, 10th- and 12th-grade students, gathers information about student behaviors and beliefs related to substance abuse and other issues. Grant funds have helped district administrators add lockboxes, naloxone kits and fentanyl test strips to school buildings and have funded evidence-based training programs.
“A core element of our implementation plan is the placement of life-saving resources around the school campus,” said Turner. “These tools provide a crucial safety net, ensuring that staff and students have immediate access to emergency intervention resources.”
As Hildebrand-Beach did in Maysville, Turner plans to add the Botvin Life Skills course to Lindsay schools. In addition, Turner and Lindsey School Resource Officer Randy Ramming have attended harm-reduction training to help recognize and respond to opioid-related incidents.
Turner emphasized that school staff is instrumental in prevention efforts.
“Our multilayered approach ensures that prevention is not just a one-time effort, but an ongoing commitment within the school environment,” she said. “Through ongoing collaboration with the PASS Drug Coalition and other community partners, we are demonstrating a strong commitment to protecting students and fostering a healthier future for all.”
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