Schools

Students Form Giant Red Ribbon For Drug and Alcohol Awareness

"Red Ribbon Week" at the middle school ended Friday on the football field on Stillwell Ave.

Students at marked the culmination of “Red Ribbon Week” Friday—a week dedicated to raising awareness about the dangers of drug and alcohol abuse—by dressing in red and forming a giant red ribbon on the football field adjacent to the school.

Each day this week was dedicated to a different theme; organizers at the school turned it into a competition as well by awarding points to classes with the highest participation to be applied toward Field Day activities at the end of the school year.

The week’s themes were as follows:

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  • Monday: “Red Ribbon Week” introduction day when students were given drug-free pledge stickers to wear that said, “I pledge to be drug free!”
  • Tuesday: “Sock it to Drugs” day when students wore “wacky socks.”
  • Wednesday: “Living Drug Free is no Sweat” day when they wore sweat pants.
  • Thursday: “Team Up Against Drugs” day when the kids were encouraged to wear gear from their favorite high school, college or pro sports team.
  • Friday: “Use Your Head—Wear Red. You Are the Future—Make it Drug Free” day when they were asked to wear a red shirt (if the didn’t, they were relegated to the bleachers to watch the red ribbon on the football field form before their eyes).

ESI Reading teacher and SADD advisor at the middle school Stefanie Yundi said, “Each theme is based on stomping drugs out, so it made them a little more aware of what’s going on.”

Yundi added that health classes also worked lessons around each theme throughout the week, and that participation among the students was “very good, which is what we really wanted.”

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“It worked out very well this year,” Yundi said. “We’ve never done anything like this before so it was definitely a challenge. But with the teachers and the kids, it worked out awesome; more than I could have asked for.”


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