Any mention of teenagers and police officers in the same setting generally conjures up images of wild house parties getting busted, but not for these teens. 50 of Whatcom County's greatest teen leaders gathered for a weekend of learning, team building, and planning at this year's Youth Matter Leadership Retreat.

May 2015 The six hour long event consisted of a thorough overview of suicide and mental health facts, what the training is, and how to deliver it. There were close to 30 community members representing a vast array of occupations. After the training, participants were awarded a certificate of completetion stating that they were official MAD HOPE Trainers.

WPC held it's first Youth Matter Leadership Retreat at Camp Lutherwood in 2014.The event was designed to empower and educate prevention teams from around Whatcom County. Highlights of the weekend included a drum circle, discussion about the effects of drugs on the brain, work on social norming and motivational messaging from a one-armed juggler. The weekend concluded with the teams reporting out on their drug and alcohol prevention plans for the year.