School & District Management Video

Amid Opioid Crisis, Schools Help Students Heal

By Carmen Rojas — January 5, 2017 8:56

The U.S. is facing an opioid crisis. Deaths have nearly quadrupled in the last 15 years — the latest figures show 91 Americans dying from opioid overdoses every day.

In hard-hit states like West Virginia, parents’ addiction to pain pills, fentanyl, or heroin has torn many families apart. With 5,000 children now in foster care, a 24% increase over the past five years, the state’s schools are grappling with ways to support children affected by drug abuse.

In this report for the PBS NewsHour, Education Week Correspondent Lisa Stark traveled to rural Jackson County, W.Va, to see how one school district is responding.

This video aired on PBS NewsHour on December 27, 2016.

Carmen Rojas
Carmen Rojas formerly was a Video Administration and Communications Assistant for Education Week.

This video also appeared on On Air: A Video Blog.

Video

Early Childhood Video Play-Based Learning: How It Can Build Young Children’s Independence
An EdWeek video looks at how an early learning program helps students explore boundaries and responsibility.
1 min read
Students tend to chickens at WonderHere in Lakeland, Fla. on Sept. 1, 2026.
Students tend to chickens at WonderHere in Lakeland, Fla. on Sept. 1, 2026.
Saul Martinez for Education Week
Teaching Video How Co-Teaching Helps English Learners Succeed
Increasingly in the Metro Nashville schools, general-education and English-learner teachers team up.
1 min read
Laura Eady, a 3rd grade general education teacher (left), and Lisa Maddox, an English-learner teacher, prepare lessons together for students at Mt. View Elementary School in Nashville, Tenn., on Sept. 2, 2026.
Laura Eady, a 3rd grade general education teacher (left), and Lisa Maddox, an English-learner teacher, prepare lessons together for students at Mt. View Elementary School in Nashville, Tenn., on Sept. 2, 2026.
Kevin Wurm for Education Week
School & District Management Video ‘You’ll Make New Friends’: What Happens to Students When Their School Closes
How two middle schoolers managed uncertainty as their rural school closed its doors.
1 min read
Tacy Fridrych, 11, with her friends on the First day of school at Lisbon Middle School in Lisbon, North Dakota on August 31, 2026.
Tacy Fridrych, 11, with her friends on the first day of school at Lisbon Middle School in Lisbon, North Dakota on August 31, 2026.
Natalie Behring for Education Week
School Climate & Safety Video How One NYC School Experienced 9/11: An EdWeek Editor Recounts That Day
EdWeek's Kevin Bushweller recalls how the staff at a Manhattan public school reacted with resolute calm to upheaval.
Education Week Managing Editor. Sean Cavanagh (left) and Deputy Managing Editor Kevin Bushweller discuss how one New York City school experienced September 11, 2001.
Education Week Managing Editor. Sean Cavanagh (left) and Deputy Managing Editor Kevin Bushweller discuss how one New York City school experienced September 11, 2001.
Yi-Jo Shen for Education Week