KASSON, Minn. (KTTC) – Dodge County Public Health has partnered with a motivational program to steer students straight. For 18 years, the motivational program Steered Straight has been presented to millions of students nationwide about positive and negative life decisions.
View the new broadcast video on the KTTC website
Monday’s event at the middle school in Kasson was an opportunity for parents to listen to the program’s founder and keynote speaker, Michael DeLeon.
Over three days, DeLeon plans to speak with all four school districts in Dodge County: Kasson-Mantorville, Hayfield, Triton, and the Zumbro Education District.
DeLeon said he wants to positively impact students while sharing his life experiences of a nearly 20-year drug addiction and 12 years spent in state prison for a gang-related homicide.
“I got a member of my family actually killed in a drug deal that went bad, and so I was sent to prison, and I went to prison for 12 years,” DeLeon said. “When I was in prison, I ran a program called Scared Straight that turned into a TV show called Beyond Scared Straight. Bringing kids into the prison that yell at them and scream at them and threaten, it doesn’t work.”
DeLeon hopes his story will ultimately reduce the number of youths who end up in the criminal justice system.
The Steered Straight program does not just educate the youth about the harmful nature of drugs, alcohol, and gang violence. It also provides examples of how dangerous realities can impact people’s lives.
In total, the program of six speakers has met with more than 19 million students at thousands of schools in all 50 states since 2007.
Original article: https://www.kttc.com/2025/03/11/steered-straight-program-visits-dodge-county-schools/