Courage to Speak
![The image shows the cover of a book titled "Sunny's Story: How to Save a Young Life from Drugs" by Ginger Katz. The cover features a photograph of a young boy and a dog, presumably Sunny, against a yellow background.]([{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto/v1715612146/norwalkpsorg/ehjpwluwexwlwlr8c4qi/IMG_5674.png","width":200}])
Christine Hurley & Angela Di Nardo
On Wednesday May 8th, 2024, Ginger & Larry Katz presented their story about their late son Ian, who overdosed on heroin and died in September of 1996.
As part of the substance abuse unit in health class with Ms. Snelson, the 6th grade students read the book Sunny Story which describes Ian’s struggle with addiction through the eyes of the family dog.
Students heard how Ginger & Larry describe their story of Ian and the gateway drugs (tobacco, alcohol & marijuana) that Ian used early to start his addiction in middle school.
Ian’s addiction continued into high school and college until his junior year in college where he overdosed on heroin, which ultimately killed him. He was planning to attend a long-term rehabilitation program the very next day.
The Courage to Speak program is a foundation that Ginger and Larry created to help students understand how important it is to communicate with family and friends and to share their emotions and feelings when something is bothering them. No problem should lead to substance abuse. That is why they formed the Courage to Speak foundation.
