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Hedrick student wins national honor with anti-drug essay National essay winner Jaiden Gallery wrote that soccer, not drugs, is her natural high. [Mail Tribune / File Photo] Tuesday Jun 20, 2017 at 3:43 PM Jun 20, 2017 at 4:02 PM Vickie Aldous Mail Tribune @VickieAldous A Medford seventh-grader beat out high school students to win a national essay contest with her moving message about resisting drugs and alcohol.  The Natural High organization announced this week that Jaiden Gallery, a 13-year-old student at Hedrick Middle School, was the winner of its contest. In her essay, Jaiden described how she gets a natural high in life by playing soccer. She urged others not to use drugs and alcohol, which tore apart her family after her mom and dad became addicted. Her father is dying from pulmonary arterial hypertension — high blood pressure in the arteries of the lungs that can damage and destroy blood vessels. Drugs such as methamphetamine, a powerful stimulant, can bring on the disease by speeding up the heart while constricting blood vessels. Four years ago, Jaiden and her little brother moved in with their grandparents, Medford residents Natalie and Casey Jones. The Natural High organization called the Joneses to let them know Jaiden had won the contest. She was one of four finalists, facing off against track athlete Joel Royster, dancer Brynli Swallow and aspiring actress Mary Anderson. Both Royster and Swallow submitted video essays, while Anderson, like Jaiden, entered a written essay. A high school student with a video entry typically wins the contest. Natalie Jones called Jaiden, who is away on a camping trip, to tell her she had won. "She was so excited. She was almost breathless," Casey Jones said of his granddaughter's reaction. The win comes with a $1,000 prize plus a trip to San Diego for the Natural High 2017 gala at an upscale Hilton hotel in La Jolla near the prestigious Torrey Pines Golf Course, University of California at San Diego and scenic beaches. The gala features celebrity ambassador Chelsie Hightower of the "Dancing with the Stars" television show. The trip will mark a dramatic departure from the conditions Jaiden faced while living with her parents. In her essay she wrote, “I grew up surrounded by drugs and alcohol. I know what it does to a person. Drugs and alcohol make you forget what’s important. Like family, jobs, bills and even your physical health. My parents were always doing drugs with me and my siblings around. It has not only affected their lives, but my siblings and mine as well. I live with one of my brothers and my grandparents because my parents weren’t capable of taking care of my siblings and me." Jaiden continued in her essay, “It was definitely harder growing up because of drugs and alcohol. There’s a constant fear of being taken away from your parents and being put into foster care. Some people don’t realize how lucky they are that they grew up in a nice home with parents who actually looked after them. I may have grown up hard, but I had grandparents who were willing to take me in and get me out of that situation. I’ve been with my grandparents for four years now, and I am excelling in school and at home.” In addition to playing soccer, Jaiden is a volleyball and basketball player and earns top grades at Hedrick Middle School. She originally wrote the essay as an assignment for a health class. — Reach staff reporter Vickie Aldous at 541-776-4486 or [email protected]. Follow her at www.twitter.com/VickieAldous.