CLOWN SHOWS KIDS BAD CHOICES

Milam Elementary promotes 'Just Say No' campaign

Flying through the air with the greatest of ease, a daring young clown
braves a paper trapeze.

And a cannon. And a drug-using fellow clown named Slappy.

The colorful clown, (dubbed Happy by the two art teachers who created
him) cavorts across at least five murals on the walls of Milam
Elementary School.

The whole reason he's there, said Just Say No sponsor Lalonnie King,
is to encourage students to say "no to drugs."

"Happy is successful, because he chooses to do healthy things that are
not drug-related," King said.

Happy's foil Slappy, however, is sad because of his choices, not to
mention his newsprint wardrobe, art teacher Marianne Lee said.

"Happy is (wearing) bright, primary colors," she explained.

"(Fellow art teacher). Hollon used newspaper on the Slappy clown
because he was on drugs, and she was trying to make him look more drab."

The pair adventures under the Big Top on murals that run throughout
the school.

However, only Happy has any fun; because he's not high, he's colorful,
friendly and successful.

Slappy, however, bungles his way through the story.

"Slappy is not able to do things, because he's on drugs," Lee said.
"He's falling down, and he can't do the trapeze; he gets shot out of
the cannon."

Slappy also narrowly avoids a tragic end.

"The drama teacher wrote the story," Hollon said. "At first, we were
going to have Slappy die."

Instead, the teachers chose redemption for the troubled
clown.

"In the end, Slappy chooses to be just like Happy: drug-free," Hollon said.

That means he gets to ditch the drab black and white newsprint. In the
final mural, he's wearing the Comics -- and a smile.