ADAC prevention specialist settling in at the HF-FMCSD
Frankie Wright wants to meet every single person in the Highland Falls-Fort Montgomery Central School District. And, in his first few weeks working as a prevention specialist in all three of the district’s buildings, he’s moving right along in that goal.
Wright works for the Alcohol and Drug Awareness Council of Orange County. Through a program funded by a large Orange County opioid manufacturer settlement, he’s one of six prevention specialists working in six school districts. He is assigned to the HF-FMCSD on a five-day-a-week schedule.
“When school is in session, I’m here,” he said in an interview recently, from what is a sort-of office in the Senior Lounge at O’Neill High School. “I am not an administrator. I am solely here to help, and to work on drug and alcohol abuse prevention.”
He spends two days a week at O’Neill, two days a week at the Highland Falls Intermediate School, and, starting this week, will spend ‘Fun Fridays’ at the Fort Montgomery Elementary School.
“I’ll be in the lunch room, hanging around after school, at athletic events, stopping by club meetings, visiting the library,” he said.
You aren’t going to miss him. He’s a big guy and stands out as he walks around the schools. He says he’s gotten a few strange looks in his first few weeks in the buildings, but has felt “incredibly welcomed”.
“The principals are very supportive of having me here; really welcoming and encouraging,” he said. “I have been blown away by how receptive and supportive everyone has been.”
He also said he’s met with Assistant Superintendent Rachel Adelstein and Board of Education member Aaron Falk to get input from them on how he can be of help, and how he can do some community-based outreach with Falk as the town’s recreation director.
He explained that in the week ahead he was set to meet with every gym class held at the high school and middle school to tell the students who he is and why he’s here.
So, who is he? He’s a 46-year-old native of Cornwall (his birthday was just last week!) who most recently has worked as a coach and substitute teacher in the Saugerties School District. He’s previously worked at West Point. He’s the dad of two kids (one is 14 and one is 9). And, he’s recovering — 1000+ days in recovery at this point, he’ll tell you proudly — from a several-year span dealing with serious addiction issues.
“I am very, very honest with my story, especially with high school kids,” Wright said. “If they ask me about my past, I’m going to tell them. I don’t want to live in a world where they think I’m hiding something from them. Kids are smart. They know when they are being lied to.”
Why does he share his story?
“If hearing my story helps one person, I’ve done something,” he says. “And some people may judge me; I’m okay with that.”
He has an open-door policy in any of his ‘offices’ in the schools, whether that be for students who want to talk, teachers who have concerns about a student, the parents or guardians of students, or anyone else. He’s also available via email at frank.wright@hffmcsd.org.
“I am here to help. That is the only reason I am here. I’m not here to get anyone in trouble,” Wright said. “That’s not my goal, that’s not my role.”
His role is to provide help to anyone who needs it. His role is to educate the students he encounters about the decisions they will make in the days, weeks, months and years ahead that will impact the rest of their lives.
“I want kids to avoid doing what I did … man, that dark path comes quickly sometimes,” he said. “I don’t want to see anyone in this town get hurt, get kicked out of school, or worse.”
More about Wright: in his free time he helps adults get into recovery programs for drug and alcohol addiction. He serves on the board of directors of RYAN (Raising Your Awareness About Narcotics); it’s a non-profit in Saugerties that “is a very big part of my story”.
“RYAN is an organization that helps people, expecting nothing in return. That’s where I learned to do what I do,” he said.
Wright also calls ADAC a “pretty amazing” agency, and applauds it for making this effort to get into the schools.
“The earlier we can start planting healthy seeds in kids … well, the better off they will be,” he said.
Again, anyone who wants to talk to Wright is welcome. “Anyone,” he stresses.
“I’m just here to help.”
