SCHOOLS SOCK IT TO DRUGS WITH RED RIBBON WEEK ACTIVITIES

Area students wore caps, ties and mismatched socks and also planted
flowers during Red Ribbon Week. Observed each year from Oct. 23-31,
the Red Ribbon Campaign is the oldest and largest drug prevention
program in the country.

"Our highlight for the week was the whole school planting red tulip
bulbs," said Jennifer Homan, counselor at Parkway Elementary in Tupelo.

The Red Ribbon Campaign was started after drug traffickers in Mexico
City murdered Kiki Camarena, a DEA agent, in 1985. In honor of
Camarena's memory, friends and neighbors began to wear red badges of
satin. Parent coalitions took note, adopting the red ribbon as a
symbol of the fight against drugs.

The National Family Partnership organized the first national Red
Ribbon Campaign in 1988, and on its Web site suggests a variety of
ways schools can get involved. One of them is through "Plant the Promise."

On Oct. 24, Homan said Parkway students planted 400 bulbs in their
discovery garden in honor of the Red Ribbon theme. Other activities
included wearing crazy socks in an effort to "sock it to drugs."

Church Street Elementary had similar activities throughout the week.
After wearing socks, caps, ties and sports jerseys on designated
days, students wore all red on Friday.

Lee County Sheriff Jim Johnson spoke to students during Red Ribbon
assemblies at Shannon Elementary and Guntown Middle School.

"When you're speaking to kids, it's got to be more than 'just say no
to drugs,'" said Johnson, who attends such events with Zorra, his
department's bomb-sniffing dog.

The canine can never be around drugs or else its true talents will be
ruined, Johnson said. "That's the kind of message that I use."