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SpeakOUT
American Cancer Society's
SpeakOUT Youth Project
of the Year Award
Winner is
Prairie High School!
Congratulations!
Prairie High School
Group: Prairie High School Awareness Presentation Team
Youth: Justin, Annaliese, and Jayson
Advisor(s): Cindi Schroeder
Project Name: 'Through With Chew'
Date(s) of Project: February 10, 2010
Location of Project: Prairie High School
Target Audience: Faculty and staff of Prairie High School
Number of Participants: All Prairie High School staff and additional Clark County school district staff
Project Summary:
Prairie High School (PHS) ROTC cadets Jayson and Justin and Health Sciences and career student Anneliese, who attended American Cancer Society (ACS) SpeakOUT Workshop on November 4, 2009, became concerned about the issue of chewing tobacco taking place in the classroom at PHS. During the ACS SpeakOUT training, they wanted to educate staff about the importance of reducing youth access to chewing tobacco as a prevention strategy, improve the implementation of existing school policies about youth possession of tobacco products, and discourage tobacco use among teens by sending a consistent school wide message that tobacco use (including chew) is harmful and illegal. Therefore, they decided to create a chewing tobacco awareness presentation to educate all PHS staff during Through With Chew Week.
The presentation provided resources for PHS staff to refer students to tobacco education classes if they have caught a student in possession of tobacco products, or using tobacco. Through the efforts of this presentation, several students were referred to the tobacco education classes by their teachers. From April 2010 to May 2010, more than ten students were cited in possession of tobacco products by their teachers.
Two of the members in our group are cadets of the Air force Junior Reserved Officer Training Corps (AFJROTC). The AFJROTC instructors asked them to present their slideshow to the first year cadets of the corps. Additional schools in the district have asked for the presentation and schools and organizations across Washington state have also.
Why should you be considered for the Youth Project of the Year Award?
We should be considered for the Youth Project of the Year Award for many reasons. Our first reason is that our project has raised awareness of tobacco use and enforcement in not only our high school but high schools throughout Washington State. A second reason we should be considered is the passion that we put into our project. We dedicated many hours to complete this project so that tobacco use could be greatly decreased in our school as well as our state. A final reason that our project should be considered for the Youth Project of the Year Award is that our presentation has not only stayed within our school but has inspired other schools throughout the state to follow in our footsteps using our project as a model for theirs. We believe that our project deserves this award for multiple reasons that have been listed.
Walla Walla High School
Group: Walla Walla High School SpeakOUT
Youth: Ana, Cynthia, Christina, Lucy, and Nancy
Advisor(s): Casey Cramer
Project Name: Kick Butts Day at Walla Walla High School
Date(s) of Project: May 7, 2010
Location of Project: Walla Walla High School
Target Audience: Walla Walla High School students
Number of Participants: 5 SpeakOUT group members and 1800 Walla Walla High School students
Project Summary:
About 54 people die every week in Washington state from tobacco use. When used as directed, tobacco is the one product that kills the consumer. The center of our project was 54 pairs of shoes displayed during all three lunches to represent those who die each week in our state.
The team had tobacco facts given over morning announcements all week. To create more interest the team painted the Spirit rock the sunday before with the message "54 people." They also taped flyers around the walkways at Walla Walla High School with the same message "54 people." We overheard kids wondering what was up with the "54 people." On Friday we set up 54 pairs of shoes in front of the Spirit Rock and a table with the tar jar and phlegm jar, Mr. Gross Mouth, giveaways, wristbands, prizes, and brochure information. We also used colored chalk to put tobacco facts on the concrete near the outdoor tables. During the three lunches the team had music playing. Several hundred kids came over to play tobacco knowledge games for prizes and wristbands and to sign the pledge poster. The pledge poster said: "Don't be another statistic, pledge against tobacco."
The Walla Walla High School Journal put the event on their website and will post the event pictures.
Why should you be considered for the Youth Project of the Year Award?
We should be considered for the Youth Project of the Year Award for a couple of reasons. One, the team put a lot of time into preparing the student body the week before the event. Two, the team went the extra mile in their presentation on the day of the event and the interaction with students. They were proactive in developing games and getting kids to check out the booth.
Ilwaco High School
Group: Ilwaco High School's Youth Action Klub (YAK)
Youth: Cryslin, Alyssa, Jessica, Sylvia, Kylie, Mikaela, Sydney, Melanie, Alisha, Trisha, Jonathan, Tyler, Jesa, Leticia, Courtney, Brittany, Bonnie, Samantha, Ashley, Keiana, Peter, Ben, Shelby, Zak, Josh, Shaylyn, Victoria, and Kassi
Advisor(s): Sarah Taylor and Tara Finch
Project Name: YAK Night 2010
Date(s) of Project: March 12, 2010
Location of Project: Ilwaco Middle/High School
Target Audience: Ilwaco High School students in grades 9-12
Number of Participants: 112 students and 26 adults
Project Summary:
Student members of Ilwaco High School's YAK (Youth Action Klub) planned and organized a pro-social, tobacco, drug, alcohol, and violence free event for Ilwaco students in grades 9-12. The event, named YAK night, was held on Friday, March 12th from 7:00 pm to midnight. One hundred and thirteen students and twenty-six adult chaperones attended the event. There were many activities for students to participate in. Students where able to decorate their own t-shirts, play basketball, dodge ball, and bump, sing karaoke, dance, and play video and board games. There was an alcohol consequences poster design contest. A table was set up to educate students about the dangers of tobacco smoke displaying a set of healthy and unhealthy pig lungs. Students also enjoyed pizza, nachos, ice cream, soda, punch, cookies, and chips throughout the night. The giant cigarette costume, Mr. Buttz, made an appearance to warn students about the nastiness of tobacco use. This event was made possible by a Community Action Grant from the American Cancer Society Youth SpeakOUT Initiative.
Why should you be considered for the Youth Project of the Year Award?
We should be considered for the Youth Project of the Year Award because this event was a youth planned event, it was fun for both youth and adults, and we got our message across. If we won the award we could plan an even bigger event with more tobacco, drug, and alcohol education or we could use the award to purchase educational materials to post in our school.
SpeakOUT Youth Project
of the Year Award
Nominees
Congratulations to Justin Plummer, Annaliese Buck, Jayson Camp, and Cindi Schroeder! Great work!
