Red Ribbon Week at MLHS

To the Editor:

My name is Kambria Steinhaus, and I am a senior at Martin Luther High School. I am writing to you today to bring awareness to our community about our youth coalition and the work we are doing in the community to counter underage drinking, vaping, and drug abuse.

Our group, formerly YOCO, has been renamed: EMPOWER, Today’s Students, Tomorrow’s Leaders, Creating Change for Healthy Communities. We are a student lead group dedicated to prevent substance abuse and inspire our peers to make healthy choices and promote positive norms and changes in the community that will last long after our grant dollars are gone.

Next week you will be seeing some red ribbons around the schools and the community because we will be celebrating Red Ribbon Week. The Red Ribbon Campaign is the oldest and largest drug prevention program in the nation, reaching millions of young people and their families each year. This is an ideal way for people and communities to unite and take a visible stand against drugs. Red Ribbon week brings awareness about the influence of illegal and prescription drugs in America. It was created in response to the murder of DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration) Agent Enrique Camarena by drug-traffickers in Mexico City. Many across the country began wearing Red Ribbons as a symbol of their commitment to raise awareness of the killing and destruction caused by drugs in America. This tradition is continued throughout America today as a symbol of intolerance toward drugs. This week we will also promote mental health because we understand that when we are mentally healthy, we have the capability to make healthier choices for the rest of our body.

Each day of the week, during announcements, we will have facts and information about how substance abuse affects America as well as encouraging messages to stay drug free. At Martin Luther High School, we have decorated the school and tied red ribbons to all the lockers and the doors of the teachers’ rooms. We have a RED-OUT day on Tuesday to start off the week. We will also be handing out individual drug-free pledges for the student to sign and keep as a reminder. In addition, we will have a poster to sign as a pledge, which will be hung up in our school. During the week, we will also have Empower students lead discussions among their peers in small groups about how nicotine affects the teenage brain.

Wednesday, we will show a natural high video, to recognize that there are many ways to get a “high” without the use of drugs. Throughout the week we will have different prayers for ourselves and for those struggling and affected by drug abuse. We encourage the community to display Red Ribbons at your homes and businesses to show your support to this cause.

Kambria Steinhaus

Northrop