Maine Students Want To End Stigma With New Series

VIDEO – NEVER STOP TRYING –

June 8, 2022 – “I think everybody should learn from this because substance use is a very important topic. We want to make sure that people understand how this not only affects them physically, but mentally and socially, how it will affect other people around them.”

The series is a collaboration with the SEED program: Students Empowered to End Dependency, a local nonprofit dedicated to opening the door for conversations about addiction through storytelling.

There are currently students from 15 different schools across the state participating in the SEED program.

David Packhem is the series’ executive producer. He said he wanted to do more for the addiction and recovery community after learning his son was struggling with alcoholism.

“It rocked our world,” Packhem said. “We wanted to better understand addiction.

Packhem said he learned a lot, so much so that he was determined to use the information he had received to help others who might be struggling with substance abuse. He said he quickly turned to the students within the SEED program to help him and his production team get the series off the ground.

Those students include Joshua Phillips of Traip Academy, Charlie Moore of Greely High School, and Kathryn Morin, a recent graduate of Gorham High School.

Phillips was tasked with creating animations for the series. He said the experience taught him more about designing his own creations and opened his eyes to how big of a problem addiction is in our state and across the country.