Pubdate: Tue, 20 Nov 2001 Source: Denver Rocky Mountain News (CO) Copyright: 2001 Denver Publishing Co. Contact: http://www.denver-rmn.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/371 Author: Robert Sanchez Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth) HIGHLANDS RANCH TEACHERS TO GET DRUG TALK School 'Ready To Move On' After Former Students' Deaths HIGHLANDS RANCH -- Teachers at Highlands Ranch High School will learn next week how to identify and help students who might have drug problems, the principal said Monday. Principal Lisle Gates said talks with his teachers would "renew the awareness of issues" facing students at the school. The Rocky Mountain News reported Saturday that eight people in Arapahoe and Douglas counties -- including two former Highlands Ranch High School students -- have died from heroin overdoses in the past three months. Gates said his school is "ready to move on" after the deaths of 17- year-olds Austin Higgins and Elliot Wallace. "We have never said we don't have a drug problem," Gates said. "But we're just like every other school. . . . Public high schools reflect the greater society and community it exists in." Wallace died Aug. 26 at a party in Littleton after smoking a rock of heroin with newly made friends. Higgins' body was found Sept. 9 on the couch in his bedroom, with two syringes on a table next to his body. The two were enrolled in alternative schools at the times of their deaths. Wallace was a quiet student while Higgins had played on Highlands Ranch's freshman and sophomore baseball teams. Both used marijuana before and had been caught by police. "People were crying in the hallway when they died, but you know they were right back partying a week later," said Bryan Lupton, 17, a Highlands Ranch senior who knew Higgins. "The community's so small that anyone can access (drugs), no matter who you are or what group you belong to." Some students said Monday that the school is doing little to solve its drug problems. Marijuana and ecstasy are readily available, they said, though heroin is virtually unheard of in most circles. When asked how many people at the school have used drugs, junior Matt Calhoun said: "More than you think." "When friends see friends die, I think that woke people up a little and they started telling their friends that they needed to stop before this happened to them," said Calhoun, 17. "No one wanted to listen." Gates said his school uses the Douglas County Sheriff's Office to keep his staff up-to-date on drug problems in the community. The principal also pointed to a public meeting in February he and authorities had shortly after ecstasy nearly killed a 15-year-old female Highlands Ranch student. About 80 parents attended. "That's not a lot," Gates said. "We have to be more proactive. "Can we do more? Absolutely." - --- MAP posted-by: Josh