Students collect over 1,500 cans of food during Red Ribbon Week

The students in Paul Reviere's third-grade class at LCES collected 160 cans for the Lincoln County Food Pantry in observance of "Red Ribbon Week." During "Can Drugs" day, the school, as a whole, collected 1,010 cans of food to feed the hungry in the community.

As part of the drug awareness curriculum, faculty, staff, and students at LCES and LCMS, assisted by Lincoln County Family Connection, celebrated "Red Ribbon Week" October 22-31.

The National Red Ribbon Campaign began in 1985, following the death of Enrique Camarena, a federal drug enforcement agent who was tortured and killed in the line of duty by drug traffickers in Mexico. The campaign is designed to encourage individuals to make a personal and public commitment to healthy, drug-free living.

In observance of Red Ribbon Week, students at LCES participated in the following "theme days:"

.. Wednesday - The theme for the day was "I Pledge to be Drug Free." Students did just that by signing pledges to live drug-free lives.

.. Thursday - Students received red, drug-free wristbands, compliments of the American Legion Post 194 Ladies Auxiliary.

.. Friday - On "Red Ribbon Spirit Day," students wore as much red as possible, from head to toe, in support of Red Ribbon Week and of course, the Red Devils.

.. Monday - The theme for the day was "Can Drugs." In a show of overwhelming support, students donated a total of 1,010 cans of food to the Lincoln County Food Pantry. Topping out at 160, Paul Reviere's thirdgrade homeroom class contributed the most cans to the drive.

.. Tuesday - On "Hats Off to Being Drug Free" day, students wore their wildest, wackiest hats to school.

.. Wednesday - The day was designated as "Halloween Dress-Up Day," which resulted in an abundance of goblins, pirates, super heroes, princesses, mummies, ghosts, and cheerleaders at LCES.

The students also took part in a "Drug-Free Door Decoration Contest." A sampling of the slogans found on doors at LCES during the week included "Say 'No' in any language;" "Friends Tell Friends Not to do Drugs;" "Look at us, we're drug free. Healthy bodies you can see!!;" "Snakes, spiders, rats, and bugs - nothing is worse than doing drugs;" "Being drug-free is a part of me;" "'Scare' drugs away!;" and "Mummy says, 'You're too bootiful for drugs.'"

The winners of the door decoration contest were:

.. Pre-Kindergarten - Mildred Wright's class.

.. Kindergarten and First Grade - Kelli Robertson's class.

.. Second and Third Grades - Holly Lawson's class.

.. Fourth and Fifth Grades - Jill Clark's class.

These classes as well as the class that won the canned goods challenge will be treated to a pizza party, sponsored by Family Connection.

"Our students really enjoyed Red Ribbon Week," stated Lindsay Davis, guidance counselor at LCES. "They learned a lot and hopefully, will be able to apply that knowledge. Our goal was to raise everybody's awareness of the importance of living drug free."

She went on to thank Family Connection and the American Legion Ladies Auxiliary for making the week a success.

In addition to the activities taking place during Red Ribbon Week, the students also benefited from the "Too Good for Drugs" curriculum, which was taught throughout the month of October. The curriculum deals with alcohol and tobacco awareness, peer pressure, strategies for saying "No" to drugs, achieving life goals, and so forth.

Red Ribbon Week at LCMS kicked off on Monday, October 22, with students signing pledges to live drug-free lives. The pledge cards were placed on the bulletin board in the school cafeteria.

On Tuesday, which was designated as "Throw the Book at Drugs!" day, each student received a colorful bookmark sporting a drug-free message. The middle schoolers likewise watched the anti-drug film, "Straight at Ya," which emphasizes the various reasons not to start using alcohol and other drugs.

Wednesday was "Hats Off to Being Drug Free" day. Along with wearing hats to school, the students also took part in a poster contest using the theme "Look at me - I'm drug Free!" The contest winners were Amanda Bentley, first place; Quardale Hogan, second place; and Shelby Parham, third place. These students were among the guests of honor at a pizza party, sponsored by Family Connection, and an ice cream sundae party, compliments of LCMS and Family Connection.

On Thursday, the students participated in "Can Drugs" day, collecting close to 500 cans of food for the local food pantry. The winners of the canned food challenge were Leigh Aycock's sixth-grade class, first place; Susan Pilgrim's seventh-grade class, second place; and Tonya Burt's sixth-grade class, third place.

Family Connection treated the students in Leigh Aycock's class to a pizza party and the second and thirdplace winners to an ice cream sundae party.

To cap off the week, Friday was designated as "Wear Red Day." Students wore red ribbons and clothing to show their school spirit as well as make a statement about their commitment to drug-free living.

"The week was a definitely a success," said Dionne Mills, guidance counselor at LCMS. "We had great participation every day. I was very impressed."

In other comments, she thanked Family Connection for its support and the teachers "for encouraging their students to take part in the week's activities."

The United States Congress officially proclaimed the first National Red Ribbon Week October 23-31. Since then, the red ribbon has come to symbolize the movement to create a drug-free America.