For Bill Day, his work is a calling full of purpose, fulfillment and adventure. When Day, an associate with Alabama Citizens Action Program (ALCAP), walks into a school, he’s different from other teachers in one significant respect. He never knows exactly what he’s going to teach.
ALCAP, an organization that teaches about the danger of drugs and alcohol, prepares Day and others like him to take on conversations about substance abuse with battle-weary teenagers.
But what Day finds is an opportunity to invest his life — and sometimes his faith — into whole classrooms of school-age youth.
“We teach them how to correctly manage their anger and how to make good choices about alcohol, drugs and other moral issues,” Day said. “But the students can take control of the conversation and open up doors for a faith message.”
In a classroom where Day discussed anger management recently, a young girl began sharing with Day how Christ had helped her conquer her battle with anger. Day encouraged her to share, and she was able to speak about her faith in her public school classroom in a way he was not able to lead — only facilitate.
“Things like that happen quite often,” Day said.
In addition to the droves of teenagers ALCAP has helped with its alcohol and drug prevention message, the organization’s new thrust is aimed at suicide prevention through teaching anger management and conflict resolution.
“Some were reared in violent family situations,” Day said. “Relationships are intense and hurried, and school is a spillover from home.”
Day said teaching teenagers to manage their anger will cut down on the number of suicides, the second leading cause of death among teens. It will also decrease bullying, a major contributor to violence on campus as well as peer pressure for substance abuse.
Dan Ireland, executive director of ALCAP, said when the organization put out the word to schools this year that its volunteers wanted to help with bullying issues, the response was overwhelming.
“We’ve been inundated with calls to come with information and motivation to deal with the problem of bullying,” Ireland said. “This school year could be ALCAP’s most demanding yet.”
Day said volunteer teachers across the state are desperately needed to help with this need, as well as to achieve ALCAP’s goal of having a trained ALCAP staffer within 25 miles of every school.
“So many of these young people end up in camps or prisons because no one ever reaches them. It’s all worthwhile, and all speakers have experiences where they see people changed,” Day said. “You don’t have to be church staff to do this. If you’re a retired teacher, a stay-home mom or just willing, we can easily train and use you.”
The advantage of having volunteers across Alabama, he said, is having more than just a one-session encounter. “If a youth minister can get his name and face in the mind of a young person, sometimes that young person will think of him as a place to go to for help when problems arise,” said Day, who currently drives 50,000 miles a year to volunteer in Alabama’s schools. “And if the location is close, that kind of follow-up is possible.”
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