The P2P Peer Leaders are a branch of CORE 7, a selected group of 7th grade students who continue to make our community a better place. Their goals include informing us about substance abuse and mental health. As stated by Varnika Lamba, a current member of P2P, “I think more people need to learn about this and spread more awareness.” We are glad that these influential Peer Leaders are able to teach other fellow students about drugs and alcohol to prevent the usage of it.

So far this school year, P2P has facilitated a school tradition, Red Ribbon Week, where they met with senior citizens in the Bauer Center to make ribbons. For each day of Red Ribbon Week,  they shared anti-drug mottos corresponding to a spirit day. In a couple of weeks, P2P will be taking a field trip to Washington School to present their current project to the 5th graders about being drug-free.

Ms. Yao summarizes her experience by saying, “I love being the advisor to the P2P peer leader group because it provides me an insight on how modern teenagers think about drugs and how we can portray drugs in a negative light to students in Millburn Middle School and beyond.”

P2P students even talked about how much they like being in this specific Peer Leader group. Varnika stated, “Our advisor creates a fun and entertaining atmosphere. I like how the activities we do impact the community in a positive way.” In addition, another P2P student Elijah Guinoo told us, “I really like our counselor, she is very funny and chill.”

In conclusion, the P2P Peer Leaders are an extremely significant group of role models for not just our school, but for the Millburn community. As they strive to educate teens about the downside of drugs and vaping, they also build upon essential leadership skills to serve as exemplars, sharing their passion to eliminate substance abuse and encourage a happy, healthy, and drug-free lifestyle to our community.