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9 Investigates: Local group works to revolutionize how high school addicts are educated

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — For many of us, high school is a whirlwind of emotions, a combination of adolescence and adulthood, pushing and pulling against each other.

That's not the case for recovering addict Jen Rutalis.

"I actually started out pretty rough. I drank right when I was about 14 and by the time I was 15 years old, I was doing Oxycontin, cocaine and marijuana," Rutalis said.

Rutalis is 27 years old now, a college graduate with a successful career, but her future wasn't always bright.

"I think I was at such a low point as the drugs and alcohol took over that eventually I didn't care. I was so obsessed with not feeling my own emotions that death was an option," Rutalis said.

The Emerald School will be a recovery high school, the first of its kind, not just in Charlotte, but in the Carolinas.

At the Emerald School, the hope is to revolutionize how high school students dealing with addiction are educated.

"You hear of so many burials happening just in our city alone,” said Mary Ferreri, with the Emerald School. “So many of us you see in this room, we can't sit still about that anymore. It’s not OK.”

The Emerald School's goal is to combine rigorous academics with the kind of unique support that will prevent students from relapsing.

"Our goal is to be a catalyst for change in our state,” Ferreri said.

The school will be located at Memorial United Methodist in east Charlotte, one of the advantages is that teachers will be trained to tell when a student is using drugs, which is not always the case on the outside.

"Now, in recovery, I'm able to say asking for help was the most courageous thing I’ve ever done in my life, but in that teen mindset, it was so horrible for me to face people and tell them I am sick,” Rutali said.

Sylvia Parsons, who is an advocate for the school, said her daughter is in recovery.

"They need to be able to look in a person's pupils and know if they are taking Xanax or if they are taking an Oxycontin,” Parsons said. “(My daughter) has lost 10 friends to this disease since she graduated in 2009."

A lot of people at the school have similar stories, which is why they are fighting to save lives and believe the community needs to do much more.

"It’s not something that one small organization can tackle,” Ferreri said. “It really is all of us looking at each other honestly, saying, ‘We haven’t done a very good job here.’"

[FUNDRAISER: Emerald School of Excellence]