AFTON - April 15, 2006 - Tammie Archibald isn’t sure what creates a social conscience in a child, but she knows her son Ryan has one.

The pair works together against underage drinking in Star Valley. A perhaps unlikely pair n Ryan looks like a typical high school senior with the world before him, and Tammie is a self-described “social crusader” n they each bring a critical component of the fight to the table, and their closeness at home only furthers the cause.

“We have more time to talk about it, and learn things from each other about how to approach the issue,” Ryan said.

Tammie grew up with alcoholism in her family and worked in domestic violence advocacy and adult education before shifting to a career as a prevention specialist at High Country Counseling and Resource Centers.

“I worked with people who had slipped through the cracks of the school system,” she said. “The faces of the people who I’ve known and helped through the years have inspired me to get more involved in prevention. I wanted to work on the front end, to see if something more could be done.”

Most inspirational to Tammie, and to her youngest son, Ryan, was the face of her daughter and Ryan’s older sister, who drank and used drugs.

“I saw what my sister had done to herself and our family and her family,” Ryan said. “I’d seen her friends and some of my own friends using drugs and alcohol, and what problems it had caused for them n on probation every week, and how they weren’t going anywhere in life.”

Combine a social conscience with that personal knowledge of the problem, a mom with the know-how to locate resources and a son with a talent for public speaking, and you’ve got quite a team.

“Underage drinking prevention is prevention of so many things,” Tammie said. “If you start there, think about the implications. All other use is tied to underage drinking, and it's also tied to all kinds of other high-risk behavior. It’s kind of the core of all prevention.”

Their paths merged after Ryan attended the national Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America conference in Washington, D.C., in 2004.

“I didn’t really think there had been a problem,” he said. “Once I went there and saw the viewpoints from kids around the nation and what they went through, I thought about what we had to deal with at our school, and I realized we needed an effective program.”

Still, after the conference, the problem loomed large. “I didn’t feel I could really change anything,” Ryan said.

Last year at the American Legion’s Boys State, Ryan found the first clues that he could make a difference. Under the tutelage of Rep. Dan Zwonitzer, a young lawmaker from Cheyenne, Ryan latched onto the power of grassroots politics. That training came in handy less than a year later.

Attending the First Lady’s Initiative to Reduce Underage Drinking meeting in Lander in December, Tammie listened to members of Cody's Change Attitudes Now organization voice their frustration. Working through Wyoming Youth for Justice, they had pegged underage drinking as a focus for the 2006 legislative session, and had researched keg registration laws. Despite their best efforts, they were without a sponsor for their bill.

Tammie brought the Cody youths' dilemma back to the RAD group at Star Valley High School -- RAD for Rise Above Drugs, Reach All Dreams, and Respect All Differences. The teens immediately jumped on board, sacrificing the Christmas holiday break to research and lobby n or in the kids’ parlance, educate and advocate. Star Valley lawmakers Rep. Pat Aullman and House Speaker Randall Luthi listened, gave feedback and encouraged the teens to bring their fight to Cheyenne.

“It’s so cool in Wyoming that you can walk in and watch the legislative session in action,” Tammie said. “You can shake the hand of the governor, and know the first lady personally. You can be so involved in the process from the very get-go. We are so fortunate.”

That fight was successful, and now those Wyoming teens involved are feeding off the accomplishment, anticipating the next legislative session and new ways to make a difference. Ryan found out what he does as an individual can affect youth across the state, and is making quite a name for himself as a focused, driven teen with big ideas and the skills to communicate them.

The Archibalds’ work doesn’t stop at underage drinking. They organized a first-ever Martin Luther King Jr. Day event at Star Valley High School, and a talent show that brought a variety of teens to a common stage.

“It’s really a unique kind of a team,” Tammie said. “It’s like I have this great vision and he understands it, and he’s the one who gets it done.”

“In the past four years it has brought us closer,” Ryan said. “The reason why I’m doing this is something we share, we’ve both experienced. We share a common goal, and we know what it is.”