Healthy Lifestyles 2.0 is a marijuana early-prevention curriculum uniquely designed for youth in grades 6-8. The goal of this curriculum is to educate youth about the marijuana issues they are (or will be) confronting and equip them with tools to address these challenges. To reach this goal, YESS Institute partnered with the Denver Afterschool Alliance to align the curriculum to youth development best practices (PQA) and to National Health Education standards that value the role and importance of youth being in control of their decision-making. We also worked with Denver-based experts to get the most up-to-date information possible. Instructional best practices for positive youth development include student voice and choice, group discussion, and multiple leadership opportunities. Each lesson provides the same structure: opening/warm-up activity, youth-driven activity options, and a personal or group reflection opportunity. (We also have included ‘additional activities’ for programs to consider including.) The approach to Healthy Lifestyles 2.0 is inquiry-based and student-driven: lessons promote a trusting, safe environment that encourages discussion and discovery through fun, peer-led activities. Each lesson contains dialogue cues and facilitator prompts to provide structure and guidance, but advanced instructors will find that they can tailor the curriculum to
their own philosophy and instructional approach.