With more than 25 years of experience in social work and addiction counseling, Bridget Flanigan comes with plenty of street cred when she proclaims, “I’ve walked the journey with kids and their families. I’ve seen how big the cracks can be and how many they can swallow.”
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And so Flanigan, a social worker in the Aurora schools, wants to fill those cracks in the system by starting the first “recovery high school” in Illinois, where the mission is to help kids learn to live a substance-free life while receiving an education.
Vantage Point High School, the first of its kind in Illinois, would give these teens a far better chance of staying sober than a traditional school by offering more support services for students and their families, she insisted.
“After so many years, I’ve seen the cycle, and how it impacts not just the child who is addicted but every member of the family,” Flanigan told me. “People want to do better but there are so many barriers. I decided I needed to do something.”
The idea came to Flanigan while attending a recovery symposium in DeKalb 18 months ago. Since then, she’s used much of her spare time establishing Vantage Point High School as a nonprofit, recruiting an impressive board made up of educators, speaking to politicians and potential partners, including local school districts and agencies like Mutual Ground and spreading the word through social media and in-person meetings that, from what I can tell, are building considerable interest.
The idea is not new. The first recovery high school in the country opened in the late 1970s, with 42 now in 20 states that are accredited and supported through the Association of Recovery Schools.
A study cited in an article by NPR last year noted that students in these schools have better attendance and are more likely to stay sober, with graduation rates at least 21% higher. And Flanigan understands why.
“When a kid is really committed to being sober, being in a traditional high school is that much more difficult … where drugs are easily available” and friends are still using, she said, also pointing out mental health and recovery teams in these schools can help students and families focus on replacing destructive behaviors and creating healthy connections.
“There’s the shame and stigma that come with addiction,” Flanigan said. “Being sober is difficult as an adult but harder as an adolescent because they have less control over their environment.”
One person who quickly jumped on board – and is, in fact, vice president of the board – is Karen Laskowski, an Aurora elementary school teacher who brings what she described as a “deeply personal commitment” to the mission.
“As a parent of children with special circumstances, I know how isolating and overwhelming the challenges of adolescence can feel,” she said.
At the same time, Laskowski’s also “seen first-hand how transformative a safe and compassionate learning environment can be for teens facing serious challenges.”
Recovery is not always a straight line, both women point out, nor does it always look the same.
Because she’s spent so many years in the field, Flanigan has seen changes in the attitudes of students toward drugs, including a lowering of inhibitions, particularly with marijuana, which is now far more potent because it’s often laced with unknown substances including fentanyl.
And the legalization of marijuana has changed the landscape, literally, says Flanigan, who recalls walking down the street in Chicago last weekend and smelling so much weed in the air she felt “the need for a gas mask” to keep from getting high.
It doesn’t help, she added, that a kid’s grandma “is taking gummies before they go to sleep” and their “uncle is hitting a joint a couple times a week before going to work.
“So in their eyes, it’s not a big deal.”
The biggest barrier in starting this school, said Flanigan, is not the stigma involved or lack of interest “but the money” to start and run it .
“Our wish is to be open a year from now. But at this point, we have no idea if that will happen,” she said, pointing out that all the successful recovery high schools in the country – including Archway Academy in Houston, which is featured in a documentary on Prime Video titled “Generation Found” – started small and in humble locations.
Flanigan anticipates a similar scenario. The board is in talks with the city about opening an office in downtown Aurora. And tickets are available on the Vantage Point High School Facebook page for a fundraiser gala Sept. 12 at Society 57 in Aurora featuring a dinner, raffle, silent auction and interactive stations.
“We are getting the idea out there in a forceful way,” said Flanigan, who insists she’s “the person” to lead this effort, “not because I’m better or smarter than anyone else” but because “I’ve seen it over and over … kids who fall through the cracks and then live in them.
“There’s got to be a better way.”
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