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Daily Bread for 12.11.23: A Recovery School in Wisconsin

 Good morning.

Monday in Whitewater will be partly cloudy with a high of 33. Sunrise is 7:15 and sunset 4:20 for 9h 05m 04s of daytime. The moon is a waning crescent with 2.2% of its visible disk illuminated.

 Whitewater’s Planning Board meets at 6 PM

 On this day in 1941, Germany and Italy declare war on the United States, following America’s declaration of war on the Empire of Japan in the wake of the attack on Pearl Harbor. The United States, in turn, declares war on them.


Margaret Faust reports Teens say Wisconsin’s only recovery school saved their lives. Funding for more schools is on the way (‘There’s a wait list for Horizon in Madison as mental health struggles and substance abuse persist’): 

There are 14 students at Horizon, an alcohol- and drug-free high school designed specifically for students recovering from substance use disorders and mental health disorders. It’s Wisconsin’s only recovery high school. But after a push by advocates resulted in new state funding, that could change in coming years.

The private, nonprofit school contracts with schools in the surrounding area. It has small staff-to-student ratios, random weekly drug testing of all students, twice-weekly group therapy sessions and immediate attention to mental health crises.

School leaders say they aim to provide personalized academic and emotional support as students work toward establishing and maintaining sobriety. 

….

Traci Goll, Horizon’s director, said there is clearly a need. Horizon serves the Madison area and has a waiting list. It can’t accommodate every student who would like to go there. Meanwhile, survey data shows that mental health struggles and substance use persist on high school campuses. 

Goll said the pandemic made everything worse. 

“We’ve always had kids who have been struggling with substance abuse and mental health, but I think it’s just gotten so blown out of proportion,” Goll said. 

New state funding is meant to help. The 2023-25 state budget includes $500,000 in grants that may help to fund Horizon and potentially allow others to establish new recovery schools elsewhere in the state. 


McDonald’s security guard soaks homeless man’s sleeping bag in London:

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