May 31, 2024
Meet the winning Team from the 2024 Hatfield Futures Project: Bend Technical Academy
Names: Macky Johnson, KB Licitra, Faith Rue, Linzie Harris, Ben Pietrzak
What are you most excited about for The Hatfield Futures Project?
- Macky: I like trying to come up with creative ways to solve problems. I want to be able to be able to collaborate with other people to solve problems and be able to actually contribute to a conversation of importance.
- KB: The Hatfield Future project is a priority to me, because I believe that fentanyl education as a crucial part of our future as our country, and Oregon grow bigger and bigger, drug use, is growing exponentially I’ve seen firsthand, what fentanyl and drugs can do to people. As I work with youth, and I have such a heart for youth ministry I can see how some of my youth that I mentor could be affected.
- Faith: I believe my group can make a strong impact within our school community and our district with our social problem.
- Linzie: Participating in "The Hatfield Future Project" is a dream opportunity for me, offering a chance to fulfill personal aspirations while making a significant contribution to others' well-being.
- Ben: There are a lot of problems in our world and coming up with ways to solve them is incredibly important. I have experienced a lot of the world’s, or at least America’s problems firsthand
What is an issue that you care about and why?
- Macky: I really care about fentanyl use in youth because it’s a growing problem that can cause a lot of deaths if he continues to go up exponentially
- KB: I care about the fentanyl problem in Oregon, especially in youth with the lack of education and opportunities for kids to know about the danger
- Faith: An issue that I care about is awareness and prevention of fentanyl exposure. Especially in youth, not many teenagers know what fentanyl is or that they’re using it when they do. I care deeply about this issue because I’ve seen someone become an addict and see how it affected my relationship with this person as well as the other relationships.
- Linzie: A pressing issue that I want to address is fentanyl. My group and I have been deeply affected by substance abuse. I've witnessed the devastating impact on individuals and their families, motivating my group and I to play a role in prevention, intervention, and postvention for substance abuse or overdose
- Ben: Drug overdoses because some of my family members risk ODing
