Troy - Rensselaer County Executive Kathleen M. Jimino today announced this year’s series of Prom Presentations. The alcohol awareness presentations are scheduled during prom season to emphasize the necessity of making prom night, as well as any other days and evenings, alcohol free for our youth.

This year’s prom presentations come on the heels of a Rensselaer County hosted Town Hall style meeting where parents and teens assembled to discuss the underage alcohol and substance use trends within their communities. During the meeting parents and teens discussed drug and alcohol use by young adults and ways to prevent use. The series of prom presentations are an extension of the underage alcohol use awareness efforts the County facilitates on an annual basis in partnership with local school districts.

This year the County’s STOP-DWI program has arranged for several activities during the presentations to highlight the consequences of underage alcohol use. Each presentation will feature a Victim Impact Advocate and a mock arraignment of an underage youth arrested for DWI. Local law enforcement and members of the justice system, along with the assistance of a youth volunteer, will demonstrate the process one would experience if arrested for underage drinking and DWI related charges.

“Our educational programs seek to provide the information necessary so that the youth of our communities can choose to make the right choice and not use drugs or alcohol.  We recognize that Prom is a celebratory time and we want these young adults to know that drug and alcohol use can bring about tragic and life changing outcomes that can end that party immediately,” said Rensselaer County Executive Kathleen M. Jimino.

The schedule of upcoming presentations to date includes:

·        Berlin High School                   May 1^st         12:30 to 2:00pm

·        Averill Park High School May 3^rd         12:45 to 2:15pm

·        Maple Hill High School             May 9^th         12:45 to 1:50pm

·        Rensselaer High School            May 10^th       1:05 to 2:30pm

·        Columbia High School              June 8^th        8:21 to 9:07am

Additionally, parents and their teenage children are invited to the next Rensselaer County Victim Impact Panel on Tuesday, June 19 at 7:00pm. This panel is a forum at which attendees will listen to presentations from individuals who have lost family members in alcohol related crashes. For more information call 270-2900.