Community Outreach

Teen Panel, Mural Unveiling and Urgeworks Performance to be Featured

Local teens are invited to participate in a free special event taking place at The Woodlands Waterway Arts Festival in conjunction with the Above the Influence (ATI) youth campaign. A free concert by Urgeworks, a teen panel discussion and the unveiling of a mural created by Houston-area participants will be featured on Saturday, April 9 from 3:30 – 5:00 pm at Waterway Square in The Woodlands Town Center. A second mural will be created by Montgomery County youths at Town Green Park during the festival, and displayed at The Woodlands Mall when it is completed.

The Woodlands Waterway Arts Council, the non-profit organization that produces The Woodlands Waterway Arts Festival, has partnered with the National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign, a program of the White House Office of National Drug Control (ONDCP), and the Coalition of Behavioral Health Services in Houston, to kick-off a new and exciting phase of the Above the Influence (ATI) youth campaign. The ATI youth campaign has been reaching teens for five years through television, print, radio and online media.

Houston is the second winner to be recognized by the National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign’s ATI National online challenge to capture teens’ thoughts on what positive influences keep them away from drugs. In recognition of this achievement, the campaign is traveling to Houston in early April to participate in the culmination of a series of youth-driven activities designed to increase “influence literacy.”

“We are extremely pleased to welcome the Above the Influence campaign to The Woodlands and The Woodlands Waterway Arts Festival,” said Brenda Gottlieb, Chairperson of Community Outreach for The Woodlands Waterway Arts Council. “All across the country, this campaign is helping youth create their own vision of what it means to be “Above the Influence” and spreading this message in a positive, artistic and appropriate way throughout their local communities. The Woodlands is honored to be a part of this national initiative.”

Featured speakers from The Woodlands will include Chairman of The Woodlands Township Bruce Tough and Conroe ISD Superintendent Dr. Don Stockton. They will welcome special guest Benjamin Tucker, ONDCP Deputy Director of State, Local and Tribal Affairs, Washington, D.C. and Sandy Olson, Executive Director of the Coalition of Behavioral Health Services in Houston. The teen panel will be moderated by artist Vickie McMillan. The closing song will be performed by a choir from the Gulf Coast Trade Center.

Urgeworks is a Houston-based performance ensemble whose mission is to promote awareness and positive solutions to issues plaguing society’s youth through street dance, drama, music, poetry and other artistic elements within the urban culture. For more information, visit www.urgeworks.com. The free concert will begin at 3:30 pm on the Waterway Square stage. Free parking is available in the Waterway Square Garage off Lake Robbins Drive.