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I’m Justin Horshig. I’m the college and career counselor at Bentonville High School and yeah, that’s what I do Vive 18 kind of came into my Kind of came into my purview when I was just looking up really good Drug and substance abuse speakers and a quick Google search and it was at the top and really investigated and saw really engaging content, really clean website. And so wanted me to figure out, find a little bit more. Then I got in touch with some agencies here in our state and they recommended him as well. And so I thought, hey, those are two good things. And so really then from there just reached out to Jake and then the process was seamless. And so it was easy communication. It was setting up video calls. And from there, we just ironed out all the details. What is our main goal? What do we want to accomplish? And it was great.

Vive 18 is different for so many reasons. Jake touched on it during our assembly. It’s not a gloom and doom, I’m gonna scare you into not being involved in drugs and substances. It’s more so what are the alternatives and how else can I live my life to the best that I can without having to use those things as a crutch. And so kind of coming alongside and saying, hey, if these are your goals, how are we gonna get there and how are those substances gonna get in the way? And so that different approach was way more encouraging and engaging than someone just talking at students.

Our leadership workshops were awesome. And so we knew we were going to have Jake for our freshman group. And so we thought that’s going to be great for the assembly style. But before and after the assembly, Jake did a leadership workshop for our upperclassmen and our younger kids. And during those workshops, not only was he giving him tools and tricks and tips on how to be a better leader, he was also embedding in there to be aware of substance abuse and to how to make sure that you approach those situations with leadership mindset in mind. And so it was great, whether it was the activities that were dealing with different tips and tricks that students can use, or it was really good stories that were engaging to the students, or whether it was fun leadership activities, where getting them up out of the seats and just getting involved and learning from that, that is what made the small group setting really.

Vive 18, totally worth it. Totally worth it. You know, not only is Jake a great guy, but your kids are going to connect with him. Your kids are going to be engaged the entire time. And he’s not like any other speaker that you’re going to just find locally. So he’s worth bringing him in. And he is the real deal. the best part about today is that Jake was on campus with the students all day. So we started our day in the morning with a small group leadership workshop with our 11th 12th graders, which they’re learning tips, tricks, and everything about being a leader and being substance abuse free. Then we went into a big assembly style with all of our freshmen, and he did a great job. He had the drums, he had them interactive, he had them engaged, and he walked through an hour long presentation there.

We moved back into our small group training with our ninth and 10th graders in which he was giving them again, tips, tricks, tools, engaging stories, engaging activities. So we had Jake with us all day and it was a great experience. If you’re looking for a top youth speaker on drug prevention to cover not just vaping, marijuana, alcohol and other drug use – but how to make great decisions during high school – consider Vive18 for events throughout the year. This could include red ribbon week, alcohol awareness, orientation, welcome week or drug facts week.