APEX hosts Fall Fest for the community

(ABC 6 News) – The Academic and Personal Excellence Recovery school – also known as APEX held its annual fall festival Thursday afternoon.

APEX is a choice program that supports youth that participates in substance abuse recovery and the fall festival gives them a chance to connect with students from other recovery high schools.

APEX strives to meet the needs of every student and offers service to high school students up to age 21.

The event was an opportunity for members of the Rochester and surrounding communities to learn about the school and showcase some of the activities that APEX students participate in, including their bee harvesting program and their outdoor gardens.

“One of the big things for adolescents is learning that there’s more fun outside of just using drugs and alcohol and so we had a lot of games and activities, we mingled, we had food, we had events,” APEX Substance Use specialist Steven Blazing.

School staff says having events like tonight’s is important to allow the kids to be welcome in the community and show them all their hard work.

“I liked it for my first time ever doing it, it was pretty fun meeting a lot of new people, talking with some people I thought would never talk to, we really just like, we bonded,” said student Sammie Lilly.

APEX is the only Recovery High School in Southeastern Minnesota, and one of six recovery schools in Minnesota.