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Students at Battles School, above, check out one of the decorated classroom doors Thursday on their way to lunch. The school held a door-decorating contest to spread the anti-drug message for national Red Ribbon Week. Below, a close-up of one of the doors with a message warning about the dangers of illegal drug use. //Bryan Walton/Staff
Students throughout the Santa Maria Valley pledged to remain drug free this week as part of the national Red Ribbon Week campaign.
The campaign seeks to teach children about the destructive power of illegal drugs, and remind students about all the options they have in life.
“I think the most important thing is that we get the kids not to try drugs, that they're bad for you,” said MargaretAnne Andrade, who teaches second-grade at Battles School. “Drugs have a ripple effect. You do drugs, it affects someone else.”
The national Red Ribbon Week campaign began in 1985 when drug traffickers brutally tortured and murdered Enrique “Kiki” Camarena, a Drug Enforcement Agency officer, in Guadalajara, Mexico.
The extraordinary circumstances surrounding Camarena's death sparked a grassroots campaign to reduce the demand for drugs and encourage a healthy lifestyle.
Santa Maria students took part in this year's Red Ribbon Week with a different activity each day.
Alvin School students affirmed their vows to live a clean life by signing a “pledge wall” posted in the cafeteria, and held a flag assembly where student council members explained the importance of the week.
Students wore red ribbons and sweats, and several schools hosted “Turn Your Back” on drugs day, where students wore their shirts backwards to school.
This was her class's favorite activity, according to Andrade.
On Thursday, the doors of Battles School classrooms were covered with messages encouraging a drug-free life.
A sixth-grade classroom warned students of drugs' most dire consequence.
The words “If you don't want to end up here, don't do drugs,” accompanied a lone tombstone.
A first-grade classroom took a more light-hearted approach with a little rhyme.
Fifth-grader Destiny Tumamao said she learned a lot about drugs during Red Ribbon Week.
“It could destroy your whole body,” she said. “Your body's reaction (to the drugs) could turn on you.”
Natalie Ragus can be reached at 347-4580 or
nragus@santamariatimes.com.
October 26, 2007
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