Sometimes a game of dress-up is about more than looks.
In the same week that students at Tea Primary and Intermediate Schools collected over 1,400 items for the Tea Food Pantry, students in grades kindergarten through fifth grade dressed up to celebrate “Red Ribbon” week.
According to the Red Ribbon Coalition Web site, the week is a national event that began in 1987 to raise awareness about drug abuse and prevention with efforts in the classroom. The week began after the torture and murder of Drug Enforcement Administration agent Enrique “Kiki” Camarena.
Residents of his home town, Calexico, Cali., rallied in support of his family and his cause, eventually forging the coalition to get schools across the nation involved in drug control efforts.
Dress-up days took place at every school in Tea.
On Monday, students dressed in pajamas for “Put a Sleeper on Drugs” day. On Tuesday, students wore boots for “Kick Drugs Out” day. On “Stay in the Game, be Drug-Free” Thursday, the kids donned sports jerseys, and then on Friday they either dressed like their best friend or said “Boo to Drugs” on Halloween.
According to Linda Bohlmann, the counselor at the Intermediate School, the dress-up days were teachable moments.
Wednesday’s “wear red” day is designed for the students to stand in solidarity with students across the country to remember the sacrifice of agents like Camarena.
“They wore red to honor the memory of everything he stood for,” Bohlmann said.
Bohlmann said the TAHS group Students Against Destructive Decsions (SADD) was the driving force that turned Red Ribbon Week into a district-wide event.
Katie Johnson, the president of Students Against Destructive Decisions, said her organization’s Friday skits for Tea Area third graders were meant as an outreach.
The skits, performed on Halloween day and written by SADD members, told students to go trick-or-treating, to let their parents check their candy before eating it and not to go inside someone’s house without a parent or older sibling.
While the messages were not specifically anti-drug, Johnson said the group does the outreach programs to make connections with students and inspire them to stay safe as they grow.
“We felt that they were listening to us and liked our skits,” Johnson said. “We are really encouraged by dvoing it and think that is where you need to start with kids.”
When she was younger, she said, she remembers visits from high school students.
Johnson said the group will visit the fifth grade classrooms later this semester.