Each year a small number of dedicated professionals spend a weekend away from their loved ones to rally together to sustain each others efforts in building supportive school environments for young people in recovery from addiction to drugs and alcohol.

While the Nation's drug epidemic among its youth is no secret, recovery schools teachers, counselors and school administrators are fighting the battle on a daily basis, hoping to make a difference by saving one life at a time.

The Association of Recovery Schools (ARS) advocates for the promotion, strengthening, and expansion of secondary and post-secondary programs designed for students and families committed to achieving success in both education and recovery. ARS exists to support such schools which, as components of the recovery continuum of care, enroll students committed to being abstinent from alcohol and other drugs and working a program of recovery.

The Association of Recovery schools tout membership from approximately 30 colleges and high schools across the United States.

This year's annual conference is being held in Nashville, Tennessee at Vanderbilt University's Peabody College, July 25-27, 2008. 

The conference begins at 1pm on Friday, July 25th, with a Welcome Address by Andrew Finch, Vanderbilt professor, ARS Conference Planning Committee chair, and author of How to Start a Recovery School. The keynote speaker, Dr. Herbert Levine, is a renowned Massachusetts public school official who is a strong advocate for recovery school education. He will speak from the heart on overcoming the many challenges recovery schools face economically, politically and as a change agent in their communities.

During the event there will be educational breakout sessions and moderated think tank discussions designed to cover today's most relevant topics in adolescent and young adult recovery. Daily twelve step meetings, free morning coffee bar and refreshments, and a business/ membership meeting have been arranged. In addition, a welcome reception hosted by the Dean of Peabody College is scheduled, as well as a Cowboy Town dinner and comedy show on Friday evening, and a semiformal banquet will be held at the Vanderbilt Dyer observatory on Saturday evening. Cost of evening meals and transportation is included in the conference fee.

Cost for the entire convention is only $150 for members, $175 for non-members. One day convention passes are also available for $50 each day.

Annual membership fees for ARS range from $35 to $500 depending on the desired membership affiliation.

Specific session descriptions and presenter information can be found online on the ARS website. To promote the ARS vision of all secondary and post-secondary students having access to a recovery high school or collegiate recovery community, donations can be made on their website.

Sponsors for this event include Wilderness Treatment Center, Aspen Education Group, Cumberland Heights, The Collegiate Treatment Center at The Pat Moore Foundation and Faces and Voices of Recovery.