Red Ribbon Week took place from Oct. 23-27 to highlight the importance of living drug-free. The annual drug prevention campaign included various activities such as School Resource Officer Melissa Porter speaking, drug-free bingo playing and pledge signing against drugs while wearing red.
On Tuesday, Oct. 24, students painted rocks during the lunchtime activity, while ASB members and other students wrote kind notes to put up around the school on the previous day. Rock painting was a way to bond with friends while simultaneously spreading awareness for drug prevention, according to senior Sehaj Sethi.
“In not just America, drugs have been a really prominent thing and I think that we should not advocate for this but instead we should go against it,” Sethi said. “And Red Ribbon Week promotes that since drugs should be advocated against, they should not be used, they should not be mishandled.”
In honor of Red Ribbon Week, ASB’s week-long service project consisted of a clothing and toiletry drive by the gym. The proceeds were donated to OC Revive, a drug rehabilitation center in Lake Forest, according to ASB service project commissioner and sophomore Cali Smith.
“We’re trying to help students to spread awareness so that everyone knows the negative effects of drugs,” Smith said. “We just hope that everyone recognizes the importance of Red Ribbon Week and are able to learn from it.”
ASB pushed out information via Instagram the previous weekend to communicate all the lunchtime activities that would happen during Red Ribbon Week and informed teachers to put up flyers in their classrooms, according to ASB social media commissioner and sophomore Chloe Chen.
“We do these activities to make sure students are remembering to participate with good values like kindness, and just sharing your time with other people.” Chen said.
With the overarching goal of student involvement in drug prevention, Red Ribbon Week is a way to connect students and promote a healthy lifestyle and healthy mindset, according to Chen.
ASB’s community service will continue through future events such as the Fine Arts Assembly during the week of Dec. 4-8.
