By EMILY SPARACINO / Staff Writer

COLUMBIANA – Students at Columbiana Middle School packed the gym on Sept. 25 for a program urging them to “make good decisions” despite peer pressure and other issues they might face in the years ahead.

During the Conquest Assembly, 34 college-age students blended dance, drama, music and speeches into a 45-minute program designed to broach topics such as self-esteem, peer pressure, bullying, consequences and prevention of substance abuse.

“The decisions you make now in middle school will stick with you for the rest of your life,” Conquest School Assemblies Director Amber Gaddis said to the students. “You can have dreams all day long, but unless you make good decisions, you won’t see those dreams come to pass. Your choices don’t just affect you; they affect your friends and your family.”

Conquest is partnering with the Shelby County Drug Free Coalition and the Above The Influence prevention program, which is part of the SCDFC, to hold the assembly in multiple schools in the county.

Different variations of the assembly are offered for elementary, intermediate and middle and high schools, SCDFC Coordinator Jan Corbett said.

“The bottom line is helping kids make good decisions,” Corbett said. “The SCDFC is excited to be partnering with Conquest to make presentations in the schools.”

Gaddis, 25, has been with Conquest, an Alabaster-based group, for seven years and said the group visits 30-40 schools per year.

“It’s just been so incredible to be able to impact students to make good choices,” Gaddis said.

CMS Principal Dr. Kerry Rush said school administrators sometimes struggle finding ways to address topics like those in Conquest with students.

“You take every opportunity you can to get students to reflect,” Rush said.

CMS Assistant Principal Andrea Childress agreed, and said, “The exercises like these are phenomenal opportunities for our students to interact with people who have gone through situations.”

The following is a list of upcoming Conquest assemblies in Shelby County schools:

•Alabaster Alternative School, Oct. 9 at 1 p.m.

•Thompson Sixth Grade Center, Oct. 16 at 1 p.m.

•Chelsea Middle School, Oct. 23 at 1 p.m.

•Oak Mountain Middle School, Oct. 26 at 8 a.m. (Red Ribbon Week)

•Oak Mountain Elementary School, Oct. 26 at 9:30 a.m. (Red Ribbon Week)

•Chelsea Park Elementary School, Oct. 27, grades K-2 at 8 a.m., grades 3-5 at 9:15 a.m. (Red Ribbon Week)

•Oak Mountain High School, Oct. 28 at 8 a.m. (Red Ribbon Week)

•Oak Mountain Intermediate School, Oct. 28 at 9:30 a.m. (Red Ribbon Week)

•Montevallo Elementary School, Oct. 29, grades K-2 at 8 a.m., grades 3-5 at 9:30 a.m. (Red Ribbon Week)

•Creekview Elementary School, Oct. 30, grades 2-3 at 8:30 a.m., grades K-1 at 9:30 a.m.

•Montevallo Middle School, Nov. 6 at 1 p.m.

•Calera Middle School, Nov. 13 at 1 p.m.