MIDDLE SCHOOLERS WEARING RED FOR DRUG AWARENESS

Benton County middle school students will be sporting red this
week.

The students are taking part in Red Ribbon Week by planting red tulips
and wearing red ribbons and red clothing to school to show support for
a drug-free society. They will also decorate grocery bags with
drug-prevention messages.

Cheldelin, Linus Pauling and Philomath middle schools kicked off the
week with assemblies that offered guest speakers on the topics of drug
prevention. Leadership classes from the three schools have worked
together for the past month coordinating these assemblies to send a
universal message to students.

The idea came from the Red Ribbon Week Committee at Cheldelin Middle
School, where students Ashten Johnson, Emily Gitt, Molly Doran and
Teresa Chan wanted to organize an assembly and activities that would
promote drug prevention education during Red Ribbon Week.

Red Ribbon Week honors the memory of Enrique "Kiki" Camarena. As a
young man, Camarena told his mother he wanted to make a difference and
joined the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. In 1985, Camarena was
tortured to death while working undercover in Mexico. In honor of his
memory and his battle against illegal drugs, friends and coalitions of
parents began to wear red badges of satin.

The National Family Partnership organized the first nationwide Red
Ribbon Campaign in 1988. Since that time, the campaign has reached
millions of U.S. children.

For further information, call Teri Watson of the Benton County
Commission on Children and Families