RED RIBBON ACTIVITIES OCT. 27-31

More than 400 students at Hedding Grade School will celebrate being
real to themselves through a variety of specially designed school and
community activities created by the Be Real youth drug-prevention program.

It is so important to recognize youth who don't use drugs. They send a
clear message to their peers that being drug-free is cool and that you
can do more in your life and achieve your dreams without using
alcohol, tobacco or other drugs.

The Be Real & Red Ribbon activities will be held the week of Oct.
27-31.

One activity is a Be Real Placemat contest sponsored by InTouch,
Abingdon Junior Women's Club, and Abingdon Neighborhood Committee
(KCAP). The placemat theme is Be Real to: yourself, your families,
your friends, your community, and your dreams. The placemats are
designed by local youth expressing a healthy drug free message. Area
restaurants have agreed to use the placemats on their tables.

Red Ribbons will be distributed around the community to display for a
drug free Red Ribbon week. Red ribbons may show up on houses, trees,
fences, and on homes as well as businesses. The whole community will
be involved.

Hedding Grade School Red Ribbon coordinator Mrs. Teresa Sanford, along
with the teachers and administration, have a full week of activities
planned.

The Be Real & Red Ribbon activities are a very visible way to
show our community the commitment to prevention of alcohol, tobacco
and other drug use by our youth. The activities planned will begin
Monday, Oct. 27 with the "Turn Your Back on Drugs" day. Students are
encouraged to wear their shirt backwards. Tuesday is "United We Stand
for a Drug Free Land." This day students will wear red, white and blue
to show you are waging a battle against drugs! Students who do not use
alcohol, tobacco or other drugs are heroes that stand up against the
unhealthy drug lifestyle. Then "Tie One On" will be held Wednesday.
Wear a neck tie to show you won't be tied to drugs. This is the day to
show off any extra special classroom projects, such as door
decorations, special buttons or hand print wall pledge. Thursday is
for "Seeing Red!" Students will wear RED on Thursday. At lunch
students can look for Red Dots on the lunch trays. Any student with a
Red Dot will get a pack of Smarties. Smarties don't do drugs! And,
finally, on Friday, Hedding Grade School will "Walk Away From Drugs"
by wearing the craziest shoes for the day or mismatched socks and say
NO WAY to alcohol, tobacco and drug use. The BE REAL and Red Ribbon
campaigns are held all over the state of Illinois and special projects
could be published in next year's Be Real campaign materials which is
sent to every Illinois school as well as to Boy and Girl Scouts, 4-H
and educational associations. The BE REAL campaign also has been a
teen-oriented Web site (www.berealteens.com), which offers tips and
resources for parents, easy-to-use lesson plans and activities for
educators and prevention providers and cool sections for teens. BE
REAL also includes a public service announcement (PSA) campaign that
will run on television, and movie theaters throughout the state this
fall. The ad features real teens talking in their own words about what
being real means to them. Red Ribbon Week Oct. 27-31 is an opportunity
for every parent,

student and community member in the Abingdon area to
acknowledge students who stay away from alcohol, tobacco and other
drugs. The community can also look for ways to get involved. Help our
youth stay off drugs during Red Ribbon Week and the rest of the year.