Attorney General Maura Healey joined Haverhill Mayor James J. Fiorentini May 2 for a visit to J.G. Whittier Middle School. (Courtesy photograph)
Haverhill’s J. G. Whittier Middle School Wednesday was one of 200 schools chosen to participate in the state’s youth opioid prevention program called Project Here.
To celebrate the launch of the program, Attorney General Maura Healey joined Mayor James J. Fiorentini sat in on a health class led by Whittier’s Nicole Reynolds, discussing substance abuse prevention with eighth grade students.
Fiorentini and Healey chat with students. (Courtesy photograph)
“We all have a role to play in preventing substance use and that includes our young people. Eighth graders at Whittier asked smart questions and had incredible, thoughtful answers for me,” Healey said after her trip to Haverhill.
As a participating school, Whittier will receive an educational toolkit that includes lesson plans, teacher guides and other classroom resources.
Healey’s visit to Haverhill was one of several stops to area middle schools to tout the $2 million Project Here as it is implemented statewide. Newburyport, Braintree and Taunton are among the school systems also chosen to implement the program in their communities.