Britta Cadotte has taught seventh grade English in Ogilvie for four years. It was during her second year that she says she saw a great opportunity for her students.

“I discovered a book called 'Ten Essential Facts of Life Every Teenager Should Know' by Dan Celentano and started making plans of how I could incorporate these 'essential facts' into English lessons,” Cadotte said.

She went on to explain that in 2008 a program called "Second Step" was brought to her attention, which she quickly melded into her English classes because it touched on the “essential facts” and was already a developed program.

This year "Second Step" is being taught as the den curriculum, but it was because of her positive experiences with that program that Mrs. Cadotte was selected to teach “Amazing Alternatives.”

Through “Amazing Alternatives,” seventh grade students are chosen to be peer leaders for their entire class. Students chosen to be leaders for their class are trained on issues specific to alcohol prevention.

“The seventh grade class was asked to write the names of two boys and two girls they admire, respect and look up to,” described Cadotte.

From these results, there were 13 seventh-grade students chosen as peer leaders.

These leaders were expected to commit four, 7th hour periods to their training in January and to then train twice more in February.

When asked what the role of these students are, Cadotte stated that, “the role these students play is to lead their group in discussion about alcohol prevention topics. The sessions are held in their English class every Thursday for the last eight weeks of the second trimester.”