Documentary on Teen Party Culture on June 11

If They Had Known: A documentary about the risks of the current teenage party culture, Monday June 11th, at 7pm, in the MHS Learning Commons. Free and Open to the Public.

Clay Soper, a Winchester resident, died suddenly in July 2015. He was a thriving 19 year old rising sophomore in college, home for the summer. On a Friday night, out with friends, Clay became the “unlucky one.” If They Had Known is not so much about how he died, but the story of Clay and his friends and our society’s accepted teenage party culture.

If They Had Known was created by Clay’s family to explain how one wrong decision can change or destroy a life. By educating parents, youth, and community members about such risky behaviors, we hope similar tragedies will be prevented.
After the documentary, Clay’s parents, Genny and Geoff Soper, will discuss their personal experience as well as the need for communities to provide on-going education. The community discussion will include the Director of Substance Use Services for the City of Melrose, Kathy Guevara, LICSW, LADC-1.

The documentary will also be shown to Melrose High students in a closed session. Allie Soper, Clay’s sister, will lead the student discussion.

Both events are sponsored by the Melrose High PTO and the Melrose Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition.