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Ask, Listen, Learn & Los Angeles Unified School District welcome U.S. Paralympian Lex Gillette to Sutter Middle School

Gillette to address students to talk about setting goals, living a healthy lifestyle, and saying “no” to underage drinking

Los Angeles, CA – U.S. Paralympic Track and Field athlete Lex Gillette will visit Sutter Middle School in Winnetka, CA on Wednesday, May 15 as part of a surprise visit organized by the Los Angeles Unified School District and Responsibility.org. The event will feature Ask, Listen, Learn: Kids and Alcohol Don’t Mix, the underage drinking prevention program from Responsibility.org.

During the 2018-2019 school year so far, Gillette, the most accomplished blind long and triple jumper in the history of US Paralympics, has mentored 316 sixth, seventh, and eighth grade Sutter Middle School students as part of Classroom Champions’ innovative scaled mentorship program supporting students’ academic, social, and emotional learning. For this surprise visit to Sutter Middle School, Gillette will discuss healthy living with more than 300 Sutter sixth grade students, touching on topics such as nutrition, mindfulness, and both positive and negative forms of peer pressure. Using themes from Ask, Listen, Learn to engage and encourage students to say yes to healthy living and no to underage drinking, Gillette will also challenge the students to continue these conversations at home.

Responsibility.org has been a strong partner of Los Angeles Unified in the 2018-2019 school year by providing their Ask, Listen, Learn resources, lesson plans and videos for students and teachers on the topics of responsibility and living a healthy lifestyle, and it also teaches kids about the negative effects of alcohol on the developing brain. Ask, Listen, Learn is the most widespread underage drinking prevention program of its kind. Both evidence-based and proven effective, it educates kids about what the brain does, what alcohol does to it, and what that does to them.

“We could not be happier to bring the Ask, Listen, Learn program to Los Angeles Unified along with Lex and the rest of the team from Classroom Champions. Lex is such an inspiring athlete, and his relationship with the kids—this surprise visit—is going to be so exciting to see in person,” said Dr. Ben Nordstrom, Executive Director of Responsibility.org. “Underage drinking rates continue to fall, having declined 50% since 2003, which is encouraging, but our work is not done yet. Keeping kids educated and engaged about making healthy choices is really the key to the success of this program.”

All of the resources from Ask, Listen, Learn are aligned with national education standards, available online, and easy to download at www.asklistenlearn.org.

Lex Gillette is a 4-time Paralympic silver medalist, the reigning world champion and world record holder in the long jump, an 8-time world champion, and a 14 time national champion. He is the most accomplished blind long and triple jumper in the history of US Paralympics. Gillette’s ultimate goal is to earn a fifth consecutive nomination to the Paralympic Games team, and make a successful landing in the gold medal position on the top of the podium at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics. Gillette inspires kids and adults nationwide with his courageous motto, “No need for sight when you have a vision.”

Event Details: Wednesday, May 15, 2019
Sutter Middle School, 7330 Winnetka Ave, Winnetka, CA 91306
9:30am doors open, 10:00am programming begins

 

Media interview availability for Lex Gillette and Sutter Middle School administration, teachers, and students.
To participate in the event, please RSVP to [email protected].

For more information or to join the event, contact:
Barbara Jones, Public Information Officer
Los Angeles Unified School District

[email protected], Office: 213-219-7982
About Responsibility.org’s Ask, Listen, Learn: Kids and Alcohol Don’t Mix program:
Ask, Listen, Learn: Kids and Alcohol Don’t Mix is the most widely-distributed underage drinking prevention program of its kind. Developed and distributed by Responsibility.org, and recognizing more than a decade of success, the program has innovative, science and evidence-based digital resources for teachers, counselors, school nurses and
other educators that teach kids about what the brain does, what alcohol does to it, and what THAT does to them. The program also includes resources for parents, such as conversation starters and tips, to help kids say YES to a healthy lifestyle and NO to underage drinking.
Ask, Listen, Learn features a seven-part animation series with corresponding lesson plans that align with National Health Education, Common Core State, and Next Generation Science Standards, to ensure synergy with curriculum teachers already have in place in the classrooms. This alignment also ensures that the resources can be used in multiple education settings, such as science and health classes. Program content regarding the effects of alcohol on the developing brain was reviewed by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) and is consistent with currently available science. For more information, visit AskListenLearn.org.

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