Project CATCh Information

Project CATCh (Columbia Acting Together For Children) is a new program that is being implemented by the school district to address student behavior problems and work with drug prevention. "I'm really excited about this," said Gloria Spivey, director for Project CATCh. "It's the first time this school district has had a chance, with some dollars behind it, to do the types of things that we feel like are going to make a difference." A comprehensive substance abuse program will be offered, as well as violence prevention courses, peer mediation and conflict resolution in all secondary schools. However the program, which is federally funded, won't just touch on the lives of students, it's being designed to help parents and work with different aspects of the community. Tuesday more than 120 local professionals and community members with ties to the local school system, gathered at the Lake City Holiday Inn for the first Columbia County Prevention Summit and spent close to seven hours talking about ways the program can be implemented in Columbia County. Statistics presented during the summit indicate local domestic and teenage abuse incidents are up. Officials will track youth behavior trends and use the federal funding as "seed money" to address student behavioral problems and curtail any drug and alcohol use problems that may begin. The school district is scheduled to receive the federal funding for a limited time, but has not listed a timeframe for new programs.