OCTOBER 27, 2023

“This one is going to be a lot of fun,” she says with a smile. “It’s an event that encourages kids to spread awareness about drug use and its consequences in a pretty engaging way.”

Gulenyan is Millbrook Central School District’s new prevention counselor, supporting Millbrook students by providing substance abuse prevention counseling and education. Brought to the district by a grant from the Council on Addiction Prevention and Education of Dutchess County, Inc. (CAPE), she is part of a comprehensive substance abuse prevention and intervention program that will run through the 2023-24 school year in both the middle and high schools.

Facilitating Millbrook’s Red Ribbon Week is just one small but significant part of her work in the schools. A national campaign that promotes drug prevention awareness and education among students and communities, the weeklong event took place at Millbrook Middle and High Schools from October 23-27. 

Activities included an assembly to introduce Red Ribbon Week as well as “spirit days” to create awareness in an engaging, meaningful way. Students were invited to dress in ways that represented the principles of the event, including wearing crazy socks to “sock it to drugs” and red clothing to show the school’s unity in making healthy choices. Students also opted to sign pledges to stay drug free which were displayed in the hallways. Faculty and staff also got in on the action, sporting spirit wear and encouraging the week’s messaging in their classrooms.

“The thing that’s great about Red Ribbon Week is that it’s not just about alcohol or any specific issue – that’s just a small part of it,” said Gulenyan. “It highlights where these substances come from and the stories of the people who work to prevent them and emphasizes how much bigger and broader the struggle really is.”

Gulenyan said that the event was a great way to kick off some of the other initiatives that she will be developing at the school, including the creation of a Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) Club. Students are already getting involved; 12 student club members have been gathered and are ready to get to work spreading the word about substance use and making positive choices.

Millbrook senior and SADD President Emily Corbin couldn’t wait to get involved with the new initiative.

“It’s so exciting because we’ve never had anything like this before,” she said. “I’m looking forward to planning events around the community and school to spread awareness about drug use and addiction.”

Current SADD Secretary Sophia Rogers – also a senior – shared that though she won’t be here to see the club develop in the upcoming years, she feels good about leaving a legacy for other students to carry on. With personal experience watching loved ones struggle with addiction, Rogers hopes that her participation in SADD can help others avoid similar fates.

“It’s so sad to watch smart people lose opportunities because of their choices that led to drug addiction,” she said. “I’m really looking forward to seeing the results of our work and how many people we can possibly help now and in the future. I’m glad to be a part of that.”

Gulenyan is thrilled to offer these programs to Millbrook students and is confident that her efforts – as well as the efforts of the faculty, staff and students – will make a difference.

“When there are more of these conversations, there’s more awareness,” she said. “When there’s more awareness, people start to say, ‘hey – we should do something about this.’ Kids start to realize that they can make better choices and don’t have to keep things to themselves.

“When the community is involved, everyone sees that we’re in this together. There are people out there to help and you’re not alone.”

He planned the event as a small gathering, inviting any eighth-grade students with veterans in their lives to meet in the middle school cafeteria for breakfast and a question-and-answer session.

The eighth graders circulated around the room in order to get face time with each veteran in the room, lists of prepared questions in hand. Students learned about the triumphs and hardships of life in the military through stories told by those who lived it, followed by a presentation of essays that they had written in the auditorium.

In its seventeenth year, the Veterans Day Breakfast has grown in ways that Carbone never anticipated. The event was eventually opened to the entire eighth grade as well as the Millbrook VFW and sixth and seventh graders with special veterans in their lives. Though student essays are no longer featured, the breakfast still buzzes with questions and stories. The auditorium presentation that follows now includes introductions for each veteran in attendance as well as conversations between Joe and a select number of attendees onstage.

“Each veteran is greeted in the most enthusiastic way that you could think of,” said Carbone. “It’s like an Olympic walkout; the kids are hooting, hollering and cheering. The veterans can’t help but smile.”

“What I didn’t expect was how I would feel at the end of the presentation,” he continued. “It was honestly a little overwhelming because there was a lot of cheering as I walked up onto the stage in front of everybody. It brought out a lot of emotions – all good stuff.”



Carbone was humble as he described a recent honor he was awarded – the VFW Citizenship award to recognize his support of veterans through his work in running the Veterans Day Breakfast.

“They thank me every single year, but this was really a special honor,” he said. “It was definitely a ‘feel good’ moment and not too far off from the way I feel when these men and women who served our country come up to me after the breakfast to let me know how much the breakfast means to them.”

Carbone said that he is keeping his memories of past events with him as he prepares for the next breakfast on November 9 – as well as his sense of pride in the school community.

“The kids never fail to impress me with their respect for the veterans at the breakfast,” he said. “Many of them dress in their best for the occasion, and you can hear a pin drop when these veterans tell their stories onstage.

“I’m looking forward to witnessing their increased connection with the veterans and military in general, which is exactly what I was hoping to do.”

Millbrook Middle School will host this year’s Veterans Day Breakfast on Thursday, November 9. Call the school at (845) 677-4210 to attend with your favorite veteran.