The PULSAR program, which has been implemented in several middle schools in Virginia, identifies students "on the edge" of school failure, disconnection, and negative behavior. Participants are invited to attend a 2-day retreat away from the school, where they engage in relationship-building activities that promote positive social bonds between the students and school and community facilitators. The training model consists of six sequential modules that address orientation and team-building, self-awareness and self-assessment, group process and dynamics, group needs assessment, school and community, formation of PULSAR youth club/product groups, and conference closing/graduation. Data collection for the program evaluation included interviews, observations, written questionnaires, teacher behavior checklists, and coordinator feedback and document review for each participant. A case record was built for each student each time data were collected. The five students involved in the evaluation (three boys and two girls) were seventh graders in a middle school in Todd, VA. The evaluation findings show that the PULSAR program facilitated self-reflection on participants' negative attitudes toward substance abuse and positive attitudes toward school; allowed the students to gain skills that addressed individual needs; and fostered relationships between the students and adult facilitators in a safe environment. These results indicate that the program increases protective factors and resiliency characteristics in preventing substance abuse; however, these factors were not constant with each student. The features of continued research on the PULSAR program are discussed. 28 references