Samantha Gunn, senior at Calvary Lutheran High School, has one piece of advice for students dedicated to preventing substance abuse: There is more to drugs than just an image.
Over the past two years, Gunn has organized a Students Against Destructive Decisions day, implemented a suicide prevention week and served as a Missouri Youth Adult Alliance ambassador, all while maintaining the most important role as a student at her school.
As a result of Gunn's resilience, she was awarded with the 2017 Outstanding Youth Prevention Award by ACT Missouri at their 13th annual Speak Hard conference Wednesday. ACT Missouri is a statewide training and resource center for substance use prevention.
"It's the youth who are serving in more ways than one that we look to recognize with these awards," Alicia Ozenberger, deputy director of ACT Missouri, said. "This year we picked seven students from around the state."
Gunn was among 375 youth from across the state who attended the conference and demonstrated their willingness to take a stand against underage drinking and substance abuse prevention.
She told the News Tribune she wants students to never stop trying because nothing gets accomplished by just sitting around.
"Drugs and suicide kind of go back to the same thing," Gunn said. "A lot of people aren't doing it for fun, usually their doing it for acceptance."
Alongside the awards ceremony, there was a series of break-out sessions that provided the youth with a variety of information to take back to their schools.
Former Jefferson City High School coach Jim Marshall spoke to the youth about the death of his son who he lost to a heroin overdose. Students from Evangel University talked about legislation pertaining to the proposed prescription drug monitoring program, and students from Harrisonville focused on projects others could take back to their schools to try and launch.
Throughout the day, the youth also had the opportunity talk to their legislators and learn about issues from other youth they may be facing.
"The most valuable tool here is that the kids can connect with each other, gaining fresh ideas to take back to their community - which is bound to last past today," Ozenberger said.