School to take part in Zero-Proof Mix-Off

WHAT: Life Skills Center of Elyria staffers will host a booth at the 2007 Lorain County Zero-Proof Mix-Off at the College Center Mall of Lorain County Community College.

This family-friendly event is a competition between local businesses, agencies, and clubs to create winning non-alcoholic drinks.

WHEN: Thursday, December 6, 2007
5:30-7:30 p.m.. EST

WHERE: Lorain County Community College Center Mall
1005 N. Abbe Rd
Elyria, OH 44035

PHOTOS & INTERVIEWS: Photo and interview opportunities will be available with students and staff members from the school participating in the event.

One of the staff members participating, Amanda Renish, a 2003 graduate of Life Skills Center of Elyria, said the school has saved her life.

Renish told attendees at a recent school rally in Cleveland that she started to struggle in school after her father died.

“That was the beginning of my struggle in school,” she said. “My mother and I were forced to move two sometimes three times a year in order to make ends meet. Another apartment, another group of friends, and ultimately another school! I moved three times in high school alone. After so many moves my grades were slipping tremendously. I was screaming inside for stability. Honestly I was just waiting for my mom to let me drop out. All my siblings did, so I figured I would just fall through the cracks at my school while waiting on my mom to give me the “okay” to quit.”

Renish said she was able to find hope at Life Skills Center of Elyria.

“But when I heard about Life Skills Center of Elyria and how the choice to go to the school was so easy and the curriculum was invented for a kid like me, I started to feel the spark I used to feel when I was in elementary, and my father was alive,” she said.

After Renish graduated from Life Skills, she’s training to be a social worker and works at the school, teaching UPSHOTS, a program on drug and alcohol awareness.