The Norwin School District will implement a new opioid awareness and prevention program at its middle school.

The school board Monday voted to rescind a September motion to contract with Robert Crown Center for Health Education for a drug prevention curriculum package and instead to use Operation Prevention, a free drug awareness program created by Discovery Education for the federal Drug Enforcement Administration.

According to a DEA news release, the program is an “effort to educate students about the science behind drug addiction and its impact, with resources that help initiate lifesaving conversations in the home and classroom.“

The program offers classroom resources, including digital lesson plans and a parent toolkit that offers information on the warning signs of substance abuse and a guide to prevention and intervention, according to the news release.

Timothy Kotch, assistant superintendent of secondary education, planned to meet this week with middle school principals, counselors and health and physical education teachers to decide how to implement the new anti-drug curriculum.

A student video challenge will begin this month in which students will be able to create videos to warn other students about the dangers of drug use.

Later this winter, an assembly will be held for students and parents about the program before it is put into use, school officials said.

For more information: https://www.dea.gov/divisions/hq/2016/hq102516.shtml.

Anne Cloonan, freelance writer: suburbanliving@post-gazette.com.

First Published: December 9, 2016, 5:00 a.m.