Windham Middle School goes “Back to the Future” to combat opioid misuse

Hundreds of students, parents and staff went back in time on Thursday, June 7, to witness the incredible effort that went into an educational project at Windham Middle School. This project was designed to educate seventh and eighth graders on the dangers of opiate usage by sharing their knowledge with the general public.

Spearheaded by teachers Doug Elder, Lee Leroy, AJ Ruth and Gwen Roberts, the students worked for months on learning about the dangers of opiate use and researched information to use, for video PSA’s, newspaper articles and science projects on the effects of opiates on the brain among other efforts.

With a “Taking Back Maine’s Future” theme, students were inspired by the “Back to the Future” movie to use as an analogy that depending on the decisions you make in using opiates, your future can be healthy or tragic.

Thursday evening’s event was complete with an actual DeLorean car parked out front. Ushers escorted attendees into the Windham Middle School cafeteria where one future was set up in the dark, with trash around and featured students with their news articles on the tragic future ahead if the opioid crisis continues. The other future was well lit and featured students with news articles on how bright the future will be if we combat the opioid crisis in Maine.

Students and parents alike agreed that this project opened the eyes of many to the dangers of opioid misuse.