MAHOPAC

Members of the steering committee for the Hope Forum take a breather during discussion last week at Mahopac High School. The quartet includes: (l-r) Mahopac High School Principal Adam Pease, social worker Valerie Trefny, Carmel Supervisor Kenneth Schmitt and Mahopac Superintendent of Schools Thomas Manko. ERIC GROSS In recent months the Mahopac area has seen it share of tragedies involving the young. From serious vehicle crashes to a near fatal boating mishap last summer on Lake Mahopac, teenagers and young adults have been maimed for life.

Members of the Mahopac School District and Town of Carmel have decided enough is enough and have formed a committee that will present Putnam’s first Hope Forum early next year.

Last week several members of the panel, including Carmel Supervisor Kenneth Schmitt, Mahopac Superintendent of Schools Thomas Manko, Mahopac High School Principal Adam Pease, and the school’s social worker Valerie Trefny, got together to discuss strategies that they hope will result in a wake-up call and awareness for the youth of the community.

At their initial meeting the team focused its efforts on issues relating to drug and alcohol abuse, high-risk behaviors, and the epidemic of DWI arrests reported countywide in recent months.

Supervisor Schmitt called on the entire community to become proactive: “We must work together to reduce the carnage on our roads. Too many times young people are exhibiting risky behaviors because parents allow their children to consume alcoholic beverages in their own homes. Such conduct is a recipe for disaster.”

Superintendent Manko agreed. He described the partnership between the school and the town as “extremely beneficial. Education must be provided throughout the entire community, not just in a classroom. Kids have to learn that they are not indestructible and that tragedies can befall them, as every other segment of the population. The Hope Forum gives us new hope that we can stem the tide before another teenager or young adult meets with a calamity.”

The forum has been scheduled for Jan. 7. Time and location will be announced within the next few weeks.

—Eric Gross