Red Ribbon Week

Student artwork

Today kicked off Red Ribbon Week here in the middle school. While the celebration started today, the planning began weeks ago. We scheduled daily dress days; today was Mustache Monday. Students could purchase stick on mustaches for a dollar to benefit Student Council. In first period we distributed packets of candy, with the slogan Smarties Don't Do Drugs from Positive Promotions, to every student.

 I began preparing students last week during guidance lessons, so they would have background information on why we celebrate Red Ribbon week. I made a handout with information from www.redribbon.org that included information on Enrique "Kiki" Camarena and the history behind the event. We read and reviewed the information together. 

In fifth and sixth grade we also viewed the film Natural High and discussed it last week . If you haven't seen this video yet, I highly recommend it. Not only is it free, and now available on the website, it really seems to capture students' attention through celebrity role models and music. In seventh grade, I've been doing Project Alert once a week for the last five weeks. As part of their participation grade for Project Alert, I required students to enter our Red Ribbon Week essay contest or poster contest. Instead of Project Alert last week, we used the whole period to work on essays or posters for the contest. All entries had to be submitted Friday, so I used student artwork to decorate the halls. 

We have activities planned throughout the week, including a door decorating contest on Wednesday and more dress days. Check back later in the week for more pictures and updates. Happy Red Ribbon Week!

Monday- Mustache Monday

Tuesday- Shade Out Drugs (glasses)

Wednesday- Put a Cap on Drugs (hats)

Thursday- Drugs Can't Find Me (camouflage)

Friday- Team Up Against Drugs (sports jerseys/ shirts)

Halls filled with poster contest entries

Smarties Don't Do Drugs

Mustache Monday

The door to my office decorated for Red Ribbon Week- must say I'm pretty proud of my What Does the Fox Say? theme. If you have no idea what this is about, Google it and be entertained. If you work in a middle school this song is probably already stuck in your head.