Red Ribbon Week, which ran from October 22 to October 29, is "a unified way for communities to take a stand against drugs and show intolerance for illicit drug use and the consequences to all Americans," according to the US Drug Enforcement Administration.
The Red Ribbon celebration pledge is “no use of illegal drugs, no illegal use of legal drugs.”
"This is an important message, and this was a worthwhile, enriching activity for students as well as for the whole school community," said Building Principal Louis Padua.
The door decorating exercise was the second of a two-part event. "The impetus of the first part of this event involved getting the students to have their parents write messages to them about living a healthy, drug-free lifestyle," said Prevention Specialist Jackie Davis. She added that statistics show that students whose parents directly address the issue of drug abuse with their children are 50 percent less likely to become drug abusers.
For the second part, homeroom classes decorated the doors "to make a visible commitment as a school to live a drug-free, healthy lifestyle and to communicate to students that we have high expectations for them," Davis said.
The hardest part of the whole project has been judging the students work, she said. "They all did a great job." The doors were judged on overall creativity, the message conveyed, and student involvement in creating the final product. "Collectively, the doors that were chosen contained attention-grabbing messages, exciting graphics, 3-D figures, pictures of the students, and analogies that connect everyday experiences with the decision to choose positive futures over a life of substance use," Davis said. Ultimately, she did select three doors as the best. From Rapuano House, she chose the homeroom of Jessica Dizenzo,
from Yeshion House, the homeroom of Jennifer Magnavice,
and from Huckins House, the homeroom of Robin Davitt.
Special Education teacher Vincenct Dizenzo's class also received special recognition for their door. “They are not technically a homeroom, but they did a phenomenal job and won a pizza party along with the other three homerooms,” Davis said.
