Berkmar High School, which had several concerning incidents with drugs last semester, is hosting a community event Saturday to raise awareness about drug abuse and connect attendees to resources.
The event is dubbed “Take Back Berkmar” and will be held from 10 a.m. to noon at Plaza Las Americas, 733 Pleasant Hill Road NW in Lilburn.
Representatives from the Gwinnett, Rockdale, Newton Health Department and Gwinnett County police will also be at the event with information about the prevalence of drugs in the community and how families can help address them.
Three different Berkmar students last semester experienced an overdose at school and required emergency medical help. In each instance, a staff member administered Narcan, which blocks the effects of an opioid overdose, helping save the students’ lives. Principal Durrant Williams said the overdoses were all believed to be related to fentanyl.
Williams has said they are looking to provide more Narcan in schools and train more staff to use it.
Schools have dealt with student drug use for decades, Williams said, but the severity of substances available today is cause for alarm.
“I don’t believe that kids are intentionally walking in and saying, ‘I want fentanyl, and I want to take this risk,’” he said. “I think they are experimenting, but they’re experimenting with things they should not be experimenting with.”
Williams added that the overdoses sparked students to take ownership of making the school safer, encouraging peers to stay safe and sharing information about sources of drugs: “Their mindset is, let’s get this off of our campus.”
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