Red Ribbon Week Oct 27-31

Red Ribbon Week is a nationwide campaign for communities to unite and take a visible stand against drugs.  The mission of the Red Ribbon Campaign is to present a unified and visible commitment towards the creation of a Drug-Free America.  Students at Lee Elementary will be committing to a drug-free lifestyle through the symbol of the Red Ribbon, Oct 27-31.  I will be visiting each classroom to teach students the importance of living a healthy lifestyle through developmentally appropriate lessons.  Students will receive a Red Ribbon, sticker, bracelet, activity book, pencil and temporary tattoo to wear throughout the week.

We also will have the following themed days next week:

For more information on the history of Red Ribbon Week please visit http://redribbon.org/ 

Red Ribbon Week reinforces the Texas Essential Knowledge & Skills (TEKS) for Health Education in the elementary setting that are taught by both grade level teachers and our PE Coach yearly:

"The student understands that safe, unsafe, and/or harmful behaviors result in positive and negative consequences throughout the life span. The student is expected to: 

(A)  identify and use protective equipment to prevent injury;

(B)  name safe play environments;

(C)  explain the harmful effects of, and how to avoid, alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs;

(D)  identify ways to avoid weapons and drugs or harming oneself or another person by staying away from dangerous situations and reporting to an adult;

(E)  identify safety rules that help to prevent poisoning;

(F)  identify and describe safe bicycle skills;

(G)  identify and practice safety rules during play; and

(H)  identify how to get help from a parent and/or trusted adult when made to feel uncomfortable or unsafe by another person/adult."

In the lower grades, students learned about making healthy choices through "The Best Me, Drug Free" books.  Many students are already familiar with the harmful effects of drugs (such as alcohol & cigarettes) from previous health lessons, tv shows, social media, and family & friends.  It's important to have a safety conversation about only taking medicine from trusted adults.  Also, with Halloween falling during the same week, it opens up an important conversation about the safety of receiving candy from strangers.  I met with kindergarten through second grade the week before Red Ribbon Week so they could learn about the significance on this nationwide campaign.  These booklets (from SimplyKinder) teach children to say "no" to unhealthy choices, help students decide what is good to put in your body, promote kindness to others, think of ways to show others you love them, inspire them to think about what they'd like to accomplish in the future and how they'll look wearing their red ribbon.  Here are some sample pages:

In the upper grades we learned about the harm that is done to our bodies from drugs.  We began by watching a BrainPop, Jr video on illegal drugs.

We then worked on a flip book to learn about the different harmful effects drugs have on our bodies.  Savvy School Counselor created some great resources on TeachersPayTeachers that I utilized for these lessons.