The Stanislaus County Office of Education Prevention Programs Department in partnership with the Stanislaus County Health Services Agency and Sutter Health Memorial Medical Center will host the 18^th Annual PHAST Tobacco Slam Training on Tuesday, October 3, from 8:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. in the Martin Petersen Event Center (720 12^th Street, Modesto). The training will be focused on building connections and uniting the youth coalition to make a bigger impact in educating Stanislaus County youth about the dangers of vaping and eliminating nicotine and marijuana use from this generation!

The keynote speaker this year is Esteban Gast. As a writer and storyteller Gast knows the importance of stories and said, “Storytelling isn’t just for scripts and screens, the stories we see and believe about ourselves, and our community shape our behavior. Recognizing the inherent power of story and its influence on us.” Gast will dig into the message that ultimately, we are the authors of our story. And, that the stories we tell can either make us feel more alone or more connected.

Using stories Gast will highlight some of his experiences as a first-generation kid growing up in the United States and how he learned, and is still learning, to build a community and a sense of belonging. With a particular focus on motivation and community, this talk will leave students energized to live a meaningful story. 

More than 150 students and advisors from 18 high schools in Stanislaus County will have the opportunity to attend various workshops throughout the day to learn about the following: being an effective public speaker, community activism, how to help a friend quit vaping, developing thought-provoking anti-tobacco Public Service Announcements (PSAs), and how they can mitigate the negative effects of peer pressure by using mental health strategies.

Collaborative partners for the conference are Stanislaus County Health Services Agency, Sutter Health Memorial Medical Center, California Youth Advocacy Network (CYAN), Well Mannered Media, California Youth Decoy Program, and the American Cancer Society’s Cancer Action Network.

The high schools who will be in attendance are Adelante, Central Valley, Ceres, Davis, Del Puerto, Denair, Enochs, Johansen, Modesto, Orestimba, Open Valley, Patterson, Pitman, Riverbank, Roselawn, Stanislaus Military Academy, Turlock, and Waterford.