Red Ribbon Week is the nation’s largest and longest-running drug-use prevention campaign.
During Red Ribbon Week, thousands of NEISD students pledge to be drug-free every year. It’s a time for students at every grade level to focus on making healthy decisions.
At Stahl Elementary, Counselors Claudia Meis and Melissa Contreras are in charge of planning Red Ribbon Week.
“In elementary, we are all about prevention,” said Meis. “You’ve got to start early. They need to know early on the importance of living a healthy, drug-free life. But it’s bigger than that. It’s about taking care of our bodies, eating healthy and handling peer pressure correctly.”
Together the counselors plan the works sheets and theme days. They organize the Secret Service to come in and talk to their students about making smart choices online. This year, they’ve also created a trivia game that will be played during morning announcements.
They make Red Ribbon Week fun and memorable, so students understand that making good decisions is fun. They also hope parents will get in on the fun and help drive home the importance of good decision-making.
“It all starts at home, really,” said Meis. “Parents often ask for advice on how to talk about these things with their kids. Start with concepts they understand. With little kids, it can be as easy as talking about medicine and why it’s important only to take medicine from a parent or trusted adult.”
NEISD celebrates Red Ribbon Week Oct. 24-28, so students can be successful and learn to make healthy decisions #theNEISDway
