'I hit the bottom': Staunton council member helps warn students about the dangers of drugs

STAUNTON — It began by smoking marijuana and drinking wine in junior high school. Alice Woods wasn't even a teenager yet, growing up in New York. It seemed innocent enough to her and her friends, but it led to harder and harder drugs as Woods began a journey down a dangerous path.

Woods life began spiraling out of control when she started snorting cocaine. She went from there to smoking crack, which ended up being the most destructive drug for her.

"I hit the bottom with my family, I hit the bottom with my kids, I hit the bottom with myself," Woods told a group of students at Staunton High School Friday morning.

Today, when she looks back on that time, Woods realizes she didn't really like herself as a teenager. She never felt like she fit in with others but drugs made her feel more accepted. All these years later she knows that wasn't worth it.

"It's OK to be different," she said. "It doesn't do us any good to try to fit in with everybody else."

Woods is now a member of Staunton City Council, as well as a case manager for Augusta County's Pathways Program that offers non-violent drug offenders an alternative to criminal prosecution through treatment for substance abuse or mental health issues.

She came to Staunton High on Friday as part of "It Only Takes One," a program the school system launched in January. The idea behind the initiative is to educate students and families about the dangers of drug abuse while promoting prevention.

Staunton High School principal Tammy Lightner said it's the responsibility of the school to educate the whole child. What she has seen, especially since the pandemic, are students dealing with social-emotional distress.

"I think a lot of what we see in our schools with kids and their turn to substance abuse is to treat sadness that they don't understand," Lightner said. "They are constantly looking for ways to make themselves feel normal."

Woods urged students to seek help with emotional pain rather than using drugs as a short-term escape from what's bothering them. She also urged students using drugs to reach out for help.

"If something is happening to you or a friend or a family member, let's seek help because help is out there for us," Woods said. "Help is in counseling, help in in therapy, help is in treatment. We have all of those resources today."

The school division hopes to educate students by bringing in speakers like Woods to talk about their personal experience with drugs. Woods was the first speaker. Next month, on April 3, Julie Hofmans will come to Staunton from her home in Kentucky to talk about the death of her son, Wyatt Williamson, who, in 2020 at the age of 23, died after he took a pill laced with the synthetic opioid fentanyl.

Hofmans travels around the country to share her son's story. After high school, Williamson went to the University of Louisville, but eventually left to pursue a modeling career, not something Hofmans was thrilled with but one she supported.

Hofmans knows now that her son was a recreational drug user. She also knows that he was prescribed Xanax for anxiety. Still, four years after her son's death, Hofmans doesn't know the full story. What she and law enforcement have pieced together is that he ran out of his anxiety medication and reached out through some connection to buy the drug. That was in April, 2020.

Hofmans told The News Leader that the coroner believes Williamson took one pill and fell asleep. When he woke up he took a second pill. That one was laced with fentanyl. Hofmans said they'll never know if the first pill also had fentanyl in it or not.

Williamson's girlfriend called the Hofmans and told them she had found their son unresponsive and he had been taken to the University of Louisville hospital. The family drove 45 minutes to visit their son.

"The whole way there, you just know as a mom, this is not going to be good," Hofmans said. "It will never go away, the vision of seeing Wyatt and going, 'Why does he have a tube in his mouth?'"

Five days after being on life support Williamson died. Hofmans knew that she couldn't let his memory die also.

"I have the power to save other families from going through this," she said. "It's just been my mission ever since. That's the mission I am on and it's the mission I think I am going to stay on."

Following Woods' presentation Friday morning, at least two students took the time to find Woods and talk with her. Hofmans has had similar experiences during her presentations.

"For some reason these kids get in line after the program to speak with me," she said. "They are just so touched and they are either wanting to tell me something going on in their family or they want to tell me I've changed their mind about the choices they've been making. It's pretty impactful."

Lightner said that impact is the one the school division hoped for when it began this initiative.

"I never want to ever find a student who has made a bad choice and I lose them in my community," Lightner said. "So for me it was more important to educate our students about the realities than for us to be on the back end of that and something happen to one of our students."

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— Patrick Hite is The News Leader's education reporter. Story ideas and tips always welcome. Contact Patrick (he/him/his) at [email protected] and follow him on Twitter @Patrick_Hite. Subscribe to us at newsleader.com.

This article originally appeared on Staunton News Leader: Staunton High School warning students, families about the dangers of drugs