eam Delta Max was organized entirely by students. The first event of the school year was September 7, and more than 750 students attended. The Max offers students the opportunity to dance to popular and trendy music, play in ping pong and cornhole tournaments, watch movies, and compete in Guitar Hero.

In October, the Halloween Max incorporated a costume party. The Holiday Max followed shortly after Thanksgiving and transformed the school's small gym into a Winter Wonderland and included a cookie-decorating station and a visit from Santa and his elves.

In February, the first Bowling Max event occurred and included food, games and dancing. Each was a huge success and included hundreds of students.

For the first time in more than a decade, Upper Arlington High School students designed and led their own school-wide assembly to encourage peers to abstain from underage drinking. Responding to an invitation by Team Delta Max, key community leaders, including The Ohio State University Head Football Coach Jim Tressel, joined with students to reinforce the no-use message to the entire school.

Following guest speakers and a compelling four-part video presentation created by students, the UAHS student body stood in unison to show their support of this important initiative to change the current culture of underage drinking.

In October, one of the members of Team Delta Max had the privilege of being nominated and appointed as a student member of the Youth Philanthropy Council chosen by the Drug Free Action Alliance. The job of the council is to award various grant monies to programs designed to combat underage alcohol use. With the student's assistance on the council, Team Delta Max was awarded a $1,000 grant to assist in its endeavors.

Also in October, Team Delta Max joined with Drug-Free Action Alliance to present Ohio's Attorney General Marc Dann with a Red Ribbon to officially kickoff Ohio's Red Ribbon Celebration, an annual event created to take a stand against underage use of alcohol, tobacco and all use of illegal drugs.

In December, Team Delta Max met with Ohio's former first lady Hope Taft and Dr. Terry Cline - Administrator for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration of the United States Department of Health and Human Services. In a highly anticipated meeting with federal and state leaders, students exchanged innovative ideas, new approaches, and advances in public policy designed to combat underage alcohol and drug use. In February, Team Delta Max members met the United States Acting Surgeon General and were able to share our progress and receive feedback on furthering our mission.

In late December, Team Delta Max began the process of purchasing and implementing AlcoholEdu - an online education program -- in order to provide students with alcohol-related knowledge that helps undermine the acceptance of underage drinking. The web-based course incorporates proven prevention techniques with essential science-based alcohol education. It was introduced to freshmen through presentations given by their Team Delta Max peers and is currently being administered to the entire freshmen class.

Multiple senior members of the group are utilizing their Senior-Thesis projects to continue the work of Team Delta Max through various community initiatives. Such plans include reaching out to parents of teenagers through a video presentation at a town-hall-style meeting; as well as working with middle-school students to start a dialogue about the issue, dispel rumors that "every high school student is doing it," and teach decision-making skills that can provide younger students with the ability to make positive life choices regarding alcohol use prior to entering high school.

In the spring of 2008, the group implemented a community-wide campaign for April's Alcohol Awareness Month that included the distribution of literature and special-feature newspaper articles. The month culminated with a 5K run and Upper Arlington High School's prom.