The 2026-27 Teen Action Council Kicks Off its Work with Weekend Retreat

In August we held the first in-person gathering of the 2026-27 Teen Action Council (TAC) where we welcomed returning and new members as well as TAC’s newest coordinator, Alyssa Chavez! We have TAC members from Yuma, Colorado Springs, Grand Junction, Denver, and many more communities across Colorado. During our August retreat, TAC members started building relationships, learned about the resources they will present this year and learned more about the complex world of prevention. We are excited for the work they will be doing together and to see how they continue to fill their communities with good!

RAC Has Back to School Resources That You Need to Know About

As students, teachers, and parents/guardians are getting into another school year, we want to make sure that everyone is aware of the resources that can be found on our website! Riseaboveco.org is a trustworthy source of information, advice and inspiration for youth across Colorado. Within the pages of the site, youth will find reliable and accurate information about various substances while also finding pages created by Colorado youth, giving advice to their peers, sharing ways that they can rise above the challenges that they face in their daily lives.

Educational Resources

Our site also features a suite of educational resources, designed to be delivered to Colorado youth by educators, other trusted adults, youth in their communities – or even self-paced directly from our website! These resources share real, science-based information and skill-building opportunities to empower youth to make healthy decisions related to substance use, build critical thinking skills related to the constant presence of media on their screens, and more.

RAC's educational resources reached 13,160 youth during the 2025-2026 academic year and demonstrate marked increases in both knowledge & skills as well as perception of harm:

• Mixing prescription drugs with other drugs, alcohol or other substances increase risk of harm: 50% strongly agree BEFORE --> 100% strongly agree AFTER completing Not Prescribed
• I know how to support my friend if I am concerned about their drug use: 30% strongly agree BEFORE --> 80% strongly agree AFTER completing Not Prescribed

Share these pages with youth and educators and let's aim for 15,000+ youth in '26-27 to ensure that even more teens across Colorado have the information and skills to make healthy connections, decisions, and change in their communities.

Teen Mental Health First Aid (tMHFA):

Thanks in part to funding from Caring For Denver Foundation, four RAC staff members will become certified instructors in Teen Mental Health First Aid (tMHFA) this year. We will then train our 2026-2027 Statewide Teen Action Council and Denver Organizing Committee in tMHFA so that they become trained 'First-Aiders' - adding this evidence-based training to their toolkits! tMHFA gives teens a powerful role in supporting mental well-being, boosting teens' confidence to start conversations and to respond in situations involving mental health and substance misuse. Peer reviewed studies in the US show that those who are trained in tMHFA:

• Show reduced stigma and increased empathy towards those with mental health challenges
• Know the signs, symptoms, and risk factors of mental health and substance use challenges
• Show greater confidence and likelihood to help someone in distress
• Use their skills & knowledge as ‘First-Aiders’ to manage their own well-being