Teens Talk Fentanyl and Opioid Solutions at Cinco de Mayo Town Hall
ALMAS is not your average student group.
Founded in 2001 by Spanish teacher Robert Hanson at Two Rivers High School in Mendota Heights, Minnesota, ALMAS stands for Anglos Latinos Motivados A Superarse, or Anglos Latinos Motivated to Succeed.
The program is based on the master’s thesis of Hanson and was created with three goals:
- Improve graduation rates
- Erase negative stereotypes of Latino youth
- Increase post-secondary participation
ALMAS has earned state, national, and international recognition for its success in advancing these goals. While most members of ALMAS are Latinos, since the group centers its work in the Latino community, all students are welcome.
Hanson, known as “Profe Hanson” to his students, has taught at Two Rivers for 33 years (since 1992) and led ALMAS for 24 years, helping more than 1,000 Latino students graduate.
In 2022, ALMAS launched an anti-vaping video series that gained national attention. The series produced three public service announcements (PSAs) to educate their community, especially youth, about the dangers of vaping. The campaign was grounded in data showing the health risks associated with vape devices.
ALMAS created the series to challenge the misleading narrative promoted by e-cigarette manufacturers, who have long claimed that vaping is a safe alternative to smoking regular cigarettes.
Now, ALMAS is raising their voices once again, this time to confront another urgent issue, the fentanyl and opioid crisis.
ALMAS was part of the 2025 Cinco de Mayo town hall conversation on solutions for the fentanyl/opioid crisis and children’s mental health today.
The sixth annual show, presented by Carmen Robles and Associates LLC and Conversaciones de Salud on May 5, 2025, was a powerful reminder of the power of youth.
For this show, youth community journalists (ages 14-16) from the Strong Mind Strong Body Foundation’s Youth Community Journalism Institute produced the show with staff at the Saint Paul Neighborhood Network, a community media center in St. Paul that is celebrating its 40th year of operations this year.
Guests included:
*Dr. Hector Colon-Rivera, MD, MBA, MRO, FAPA, an expert in adolescent psychiatry and distinguished quadruple board-certified adolescent, adult, and addiction psychiatrist of the Pennsylvania medical community. Dr. Colón-Rivera has broad experience in community-based programs, emphasizing those that help increase access to severe mental illness and substance use disorder treatments. He is the medical director of the Asociacion Puertorriquenos en Marcha (APM), a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the quality of life of Hispanic communities in the Philadelphia region through direct behavior and substance use disorder services.
“[Our dedication to help the community] all started with the situation we are still struggling with. It is affecting all communities, including the Hispanic community,” said Dr. Colón-Rivera during the show. “We are trying to make campaigns that are culturally tailored for the Hispanic community. We are trying to reduce the stigma and provide services.”
*Bridgette Norring, the founder of the Devin Norring Foundation, which she started after her son, Devin, died at age 19 from fentanyl poisoning on April 4, 2020. Bridgette has dedicated herself to raising awareness and educating children, parents, caregivers, and communities. She has given testimony to the Legislation Committee on Commerce Finance and Policy at the Minnesota State Capitol and helped introduce national bipartisan legislation to stop drug trafficking on social media platforms. Through her leadership, the foundation has been committed to helping locate vital resources for those in need to get the care they deserve.
“One thing that gives me hope about the future is seeing the youth get involved,” said Norring. “I think that is huge. Because I can say it, I can go into the schools all day long. I can talk to parents all day long. But when the youth start spreading the message, it’s a much, much more powerful message coming from peer to peer than it is from the adult. … I think what you guys are doing is huge. And it’s going to have a huge impact in the communities.”
*Cynthia Munguia MPA, CPRS , the executive director of the Minnesota Recovery Connection. Cynthia is a woman in long-term recovery and has over 25 years of experience providing top-notch client services for various industries, including corporate communications and nonprofit organizations. Cynthia specializes in nonprofit leadership and management from a space of personal lived experience, along with an understanding that she has been called to serve by supporting, educating, and advocating for the recovery community. With a strong belief that her life is by divine design, she firmly believes that she has been placed in the right place, at the right time, and for the right reason.
“One of the things that gives me hope about the future is that we have removed the shame and all the stigma that goes with the use of substances, and we are creating safe spaces for conversation with our youth and our loved ones, our family members, and our friends,” said Munguia. “We are sharing this information with our community. And also, being part of this group is so powerful because we can continue working in this space and not lose the desire to serve, the desire to want to help, to want to support, and also want to listen, to want to listen to the power of young people. What are your thoughts on the use of substances? And how can you protect each other, as friends, taking care of each other to protect each other from what can happen with the use of substances? I would love to hear that from the young people today.”
*Robert Hanson, teacher and founder of ALMAS.
The ALMAS youth group kicked off the show by performing a traditional Mexican folklore dance. They performed another two dances throughout the show.
“They look like professionals,” said one commenter about their dancing.
But ALMAS did more than dance. At the end of the show, Robert Hanson and the ALMAS students came up to the front of the stage and shared what gives them hope.
“My hope for the future is a safe place for my future kids and any other kids growing up in the community of St. Paul and Minnesota in general,” said one young man. “I hope for a drug-free America one day, and for controlled substances to be really controlled. It really sucks that our government has not made more laws to do this kind of stuff.”
A young woman in the ALMAS group spoke next.
“As someone who was addicted to substances, I just wish that children would not feel the need to put themselves in these situations where drugs are involved or alcohol is involved. We are better without that. We are more than just that. We’re humans. We’re not the drug that we take. We don’t need that. I’m on my recovery as well. I hope that a lot of kids can do that and find themselves.”
Hearing the youth voices reinforced what Bridgette Norring and Cynthia Munguia said earlier during the program.
Then, Robert Hanson closed the show with these words:
“I hope you guys heard exactly what you were saying [pointing to Bridgette] and what you were saying [pointing to Cynthia]. Kids’ voices are strong. And what we hope, and I hope as well, is that the stigma is taken away, and the youngest kids, as we found out just this year. In one of our elementary schools, some of the teachers said we shouldn’t talk about vaping because that’s an adult issue. Well, when a dozen of their kids got caught vaping on the playground, they realized that, no, it is an issue. And our kids, these kids right here [pointing to the ALMAS youth], went over and talked to them about it. And that’s what we need. We need the kids’ voices to reach those young kids as well, to let them know the dangers of opioids and fentanyl. And make it not the stigma, like one of the kids said. It’s not who the kids are. It’s not what the people are. It’s the drugs that are causing the problem. It’s not the people we should blame. It’s not the people we should go after. It is the drugs themselves. And the way we do that is by education.”
Opioid addiction is a reality many communities confront today. Since 2022, over 195,000 people have died from fentanyl overdoses in the United States. As community members deal with the impacts of substance use disorder, mitigating trauma for our children must continue to be a central part of the conversation.
The show was the 11th episode of “Youth Community Journalism.”
This show, and all youth community journalism programming at the Youth Community Journalism Institute, are produced by the Strong Mind Strong Body Foundation’s Youth Community Journalism Institute, in collaboration with Conversaciones de Salud and Carmen Robles and Associates LLC. Conversaciones de Salud is a monthly digital and print magazine published by Carmen Robles and the premier media partner of the Strong Mind Strong Body Foundation.
Our “Youth Community Journalism” show alternates monthly productions at SPNN and SPEAK MPLS.
Support the Strong Mind Strong Body Foundation’s Youth Community Journalism Institute. The Strong Mind Strong Body Foundation is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) private foundation. All donations are tax-deductible. Any donation, big or small, is appreciated. You can make a donation here.
