The one thing Assistant Headmaster Holly Singleton wanted to hammer home to 400 Woodstock Academy students was the unforgiving deadliness of opioids.
So when nationally-known speakers Tim Ryan and Jennifer Gimenez visited northeastern Connecticut to hold an “Urgent Conversation” on the epidemic, Singleton found a way for the students to hear the message firsthand.
Ryan, Gimenez, and psychiatric nurse John Lally spoke for an hour about the hard truths of addiction.
Ryan is in recovery. He went from successful businessman to prison convict, overdosing eight times. Once, it took five doses of Narcan to save him. He blames himself for his son’s addiction and eventual death from an overdose.
Gimenez was a child model whose photographs turned her into a worldwide phenom. That journey took her from “dirt roads and donkeys” to celebrity millionaire, alcoholism, and addiction.
“By the grace of God, I’m in recovery and living my true life,” she told the students.
Lally’s son, Timothy, turned to opioids after a long struggle with panic attacks, depression, and anxiety. The shame Tim felt about his mental illness and his addiction fueled his descent into heroin addiction.
“He didn’t know how to talk about it,” Lally said.
The trio spent an hour baring the ugly truths they had lived through in the hopes that the 400 students before them wouldn’t have to.
“Knowledge is no good when you’re dead,” Singleton said before the start of the program.
She introduced Brigitte Boisvert Jurczyk, the mother of WA alum Kasia Jurczyk – who died from an overdose three years ago.
“Not long ago, her kid was sitting here,” Singleton said.
It’s a hard life when a kid goes into addiction, Jurczyk said. She spared students the details of her daughter’s suffering. But the three other speakers didn’t hold back. They talked about the agony they’d been through, how their families suffered, and how insidious the disease of addiction is.
Ryan and Gimenez talked about what led them to drugs. They also talked about the 12 step programs and the “grace of God” that helped get them into recovery.
“I’m living my best life now,” Gimenez said.
The presentation was timely, according to WA health teacher Dan Vogt. Students are currently studying about addiction and the opioid epidemic in his classes.
“You can’t try this just because you’re curious,” he said. “One time is all it takes to get you hooked.”
“These are not your grandfather’s drugs,” Ryan said.
He called their potency other-wordly. And as if to prove that fact, he asked how many students knew of someone who had overdosed. A third of the audience raised their hands: more than 100 people.
Ryan gave the students some sage advice: lie if you have to get out of a situation where there are drugs. Say your parents drug test you. Set up a simple text message system to get yourself out of trouble. A well timed phone call can provide a perfect excuse for getting out of a predicament.
“If you need help, or if someone you know needs help, we’re here to help you,” Singleton said. “This is about making sure you have your best, full life.”
Denise Coffey can be reached at dcoffey@courant.com.
