MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — West Virginia University partnered with its southern counterpart, Marshall University, along with West Virginia Secondary Schools Activities Commission to host an opioid summit Tuesday at the WVU Coliseum, an event attended by 7,000 area high school students.
“We want to empower young people to be game changers,” said Shaun Derik, a motivational speaker based in New York City who emceed the event.
The two-day summit continues today in Huntington at Marshall University’s Cam Henderson Center. The summit was also live-streamed to 130,000 students in the state’s 55 counties. Gov. Jim Justice was scheduled to attend both days, but cancelled, event organizers said.
With West Virginia leading the nation in opioid deaths, the two universities, as well as state officials, arranged the event to discuss the drug epidemic and begin ways to find a solution using prevention coupled with compassionate treatment programs and educational and employment opportunities.
“The future of the state and the nation is determined in this room,” WVU President Gordon Gee said.
As part of the summit’s kickoff, a campaign called “Be a Game Changer” was started along with a website, www.wvgamechanger.com.
West Virginia teens, along with every resident of the state, are encouraged to monitor the site, which offers statistics about the opioid problem. The site also encourages people to share their stories about how they confronted the drug epidemic and how it has affected their lives. It also has names of agencies that can assist with recovery.
Chris Herren, a former NBA player for the Denver Nuggets and Boston Celtics and recovering drug addict, told the teens in the audience that it’s important to hang out with people who believe in what they are doing. Until he overcame his own drug problem and began motivational speaking, he said he was not fully aware what teens struggle with.
“Parents didn’t ask and kids don’t want to talk about it,” said Herren, who began drinking his father’s Miller Lites when he was 14. “I tried my best to cover my mistakes.”
The second speaker at Tuesday’s summit was Rhonda Sciortino, who was emancipated from the child welfare system when she was 16. Sciortino, now a self-made millionaire, successful author and motivational speaker, said she was 11 when she saw her grandmother — her guardian at the time — laying on the floor. It was then, she said she was responsible for herself and had to make her way in the world on her own. She told the teens that if they want to be successful, they need to write down what they want to accomplish and be able to envision it.
“Also, learn everything about what you want,” she said. “Tell the truth, work hard and do your best. And be positive and find a person who believes in you.”
