Press Release: Back to School -- Evangelidis on Education

The following press release was sent by Lew Evangelidis (R-Holden), candidate for Worcester County Sheriff.

Evangelidis: Sheriff Should be a Community Partner in Educating our Youth

Worcester- Worcester County Sheriff candidate Lew Evangelidis recently announced his plan to bring innovative programs aimed at educating our youth to the Sheriff’s Department. He has repeatedly stated his commitment to be a community partner and active participant in our local neighborhoods and schools.

Evangelidis, a former assistant district attorney and assistant state prosecutor, said, “Having two daughters enrolled in our public schools, one of my top priorities as Worcester County Sheriff will be to bring innovative programs into all the schools in the county to educate our students on the dangers of drug and alcohol abuse, to avoid a path to criminal activity, as well as the important issues of cyber bullying and online predators.”

Evangelidis continued, “The office of the Sheriff does not end at the four walls of the jail, but extends to the four corners of Worcester County. As Worcester County Sheriff, I will work with our local police departments, school officials and PTA groups to form strong community partnerships to prevent crime and keep our children safe.”

Here are just a few examples of the highly effective, low cost programs that Evangelidis will bring into our schools as Sheriff:

Face2Face Drug Intervention
Young adults often struggle to see the long term effects of drug abuse and the never ending road of addiction. The innovative FACE2FACE drug intervention program will bring the true consequences of drug abuse into every high school in the county. The FACE2FACE program uses state of the art technology to instantly show students what they will look like after only few months of drug abuse. This technology was originally developed to show patients what they may look like after plastic surgery, but was quickly redeveloped to create the FACE2FACE program.

The shocking results of deteriorated facial features can be a tremendous tool in drug prevention and teach students that decisions they make today will have serious affects tomorrow. This program is an inexpensive and effective tool to give students a glimpse into the future after drug abuse.

Cyber Bullying
43% of teenagers reported that they have been victims of cyber bullying in the last year. (National Crime Prevention Council) As your Sheriff I will be committed to bring programs into our schools and communities to help teach students and parents about preventing cyber bullying before it starts. Our goal will be to develop a program to help students understand the consequences of cyber bullying and create safe ways for students to report bullying. I will also work to provide parents with effective tools and guidance to identify cyber bullying, as well as teach them the most effective way to handle instances of cyber bullying.

Back to School: Inmates
As Worcester County Sheriff I will make sure that every high school student hears directly from inmates about the consequences of criminal behavior and importance of good decision making. I will match inmates to specific communities to help the students identify with inmates who used to live in their neighborhood, attend their school and have similar socioeconomic backgrounds.

Youth Self-Defense
As your new Sheriff, I will be committed to bringing youth self-defense programs into schools throughout the county. These programs can be fun for our children to participate in, but more importantly they can save a child’s life.