“Tony’s talk made an indelible mark on our school. He is down to earth, engaging, funny, and real, and our students connected well to his message. Schools today, more than ever, need social and emotional support for all students. Tony reinforced our work in this area in ways that we could not have on our own.
Tony is one of the most sought after speakers in the country, and his message is one of hope, resilience, and the small things students can do to bring their gifts and talents to life.”
I've stated several times then I don't speak much in California. I don't believe it has anything to do with necessity for substance abuse speakers or that California does not have drug problems like the other side of the country has. This 100% in my mind has everything to do with stigma related issues around substance abuse in California schools and the images they try to uphold. For example a local school in my home town community last year had three students who committed suicide and it wasn't until the 3rd student committed suicide the school decided to make it any kind of action towards Suicide Prevention or mental health programs. This kind of behavior is consistent throughout California but not at La Canada High School.
I was contacted several months ago my La Canada High School's PTA board. One of the parents Expressed their concerns over students partying and their behaviors with substance use and that's not to say that there's a huge drug problem at the school it's just to say that they want to be proactive when it comes to a message such as mine and for that I can't thought them.
I was scheduled to speak to both the middle school and high school students over the course of two presentations. A packed house for both presentations meant lots of energy, lots of emotions, lots of laughs and lots of lives impacted. Both groups of students were absolutely amazing and completely hung onto every word that I gave. The amount of attention afterwards on social media confirmed just how well my presentations went with loud fan.
I want to say thank you again to La Canada PTA and all of the staff and La Canada high school and middle school I think that you guys are doing a fantastic job at working towards breaking down stigmas with substance use.
I hope to see you all soon!
