As you head out on summer break, we wanted to congratulate you on finishing another year of Project ALERT! You are a part of an important community across 50 states and nearly 20,000 school districts that are working to decrease adolescent substance use.

The middle school years are an incredibly important period for substance use prevention. We know this is incredibly important work! The teen brain is particularly vulnerable to the consequences of drugs and other substances. Teens are also very susceptible to the social pressures to “fit in,” which can lead to substance use and misuse.

For all these reasons Project ALERT:

• Targets middle school students
• Provides accurate information about substances and their consequences
• Provides students with many formats to practice saying “no”

By bringing Project ALERT to your students, you encouraged them to believe they can say “no” to pressures to use substances.

Again, we thank you for all that you do! Whether this is your 1st year using Project ALERT or your 30th, we are grateful for your efforts in this important work.

Summer is an important time of rest. Summer can also be a good time to reflect and prepare for next year. Take a few moments to think about how Project ALERT delivery went this year. Some self-reflection questions to consider:

• Why is teaching Project ALERT important for you? Why is it important for your students?
• Were there any routines that helped make Project ALERT lessons flow smoothly?
• How engaged were students in Project ALERT lessons?
• Did you make time for all the activities?
• Do you know of other educators teaching Project ALERT? If so, how could you collaborate with them?
• What went well with Project ALERT this year?
• What changes would you like change to make to Project ALERT for next year?

For the 2023-2024 school year, Project ALERT launched our biggest curriculum and resource refresh in over a decade!

• Updated Curriculum and Teacher Manuals
• Refined and New Classrooms Materials
• New Instructional Videos
• Redesigned and Updated Website

We hope you enjoyed the updates made to the curriculum and resources this year. Especially those new videos from Project ALERT Productions.

We would love to hear how you and your students experienced the new curriculum. Send us feedback at projectalert@rand.org.

Also, please check back on the website in August for updates such as: updated statistics, additional Spanish translation of slides, and supplemental learning tools like graphic organizers.