Lincoln School Receives Statewide
Recognition for Red Ribbon Week Activities
Counselor Deanna Surrette and Lincoln School have been recognized by the Kansas Family Partnership, Inc., and the Red Ribbon Kansas Drug Free Campaign for outstanding 2008 Red Ribbon Week activities sponsored last fall at the school.
Lincoln School was one of four Kansas schools recognized and the only elementary level school to be honored at a special awards luncheon held earlier this month in Topeka.
Representing Independence at the luncheon were Surrette and Lincoln principal Rick Boyer. Those representing the Lincoln student body were third grader Casey Sutton, son of Marty and Michelle Sutton, and fourth grader ReSha Taylor, daughter of Tonya Taylor.
In addition, Surrette was contacted last week by the Red Ribbon Kansas Drug Free Campaign selection committee and invited to submit a video featuring Lincoln’s award-winning RRW activities. The local footage will be featured in a new promotional video being developed for statewide distribution.
Among the luncheon highlights was the opportunity for Sutton and Taylor to meet and be photographed with the reigning Miss Kansas, Emily Deaver of Augusta.
According to Surrette, Lincoln’s RRW coordinator, last fall’s activities focused the student body and staff on the need to stay drug-free and alcohol-free. Each morning began with homeroom activities and daily themes provided the opportunity to re-emphasize the importance of saying no to drugs and alcohol.
On Favorite Team Day, students and staff wore apparel representative of their favorite teams and received glow-in-the-dark “say no to drugs” bracelets.
On Bulldog Day, everyone wore orange and black and ate lunch at tables decorated in the school colors. Students also wrote their own “say not to drugs” pledges on paper paw prints that were then posted in the school hallways.
Lincoln students and staff wore red and received red ribbons on Wear Red Day. The halls were decorated with large red ribbons and “too smart to start” was the featured theme. Students also attended a school-wide assembly at which School Resource Officer Dustin Stafford of the Independence Police Department spoke on the dangers of drugs. Students also received activity booklets on drug awareness provided by the IPD.
On Hawaiian Day everyone dressed in tropical apparel and received flower leis to wear. Handprints cut from construction paper featured pledges to “smash out drugs” and became the leaves of palm trees that decorated hallways and the gymnasium lunch area in a tropical theme.
On the final day, Crazy Hat Day, a word search activity opened the day and the best third and fourth grade classroom doors decorated in the “say no to drugs” theme were announced. Judging the entries was IPD Officer Stafford and Barry Beurskens of the Independence Fire Department. The winning classes were awarded pizza parties at which Stafford and Beurskens were special guests.
Schools across the nation have participated in Red Ribbon Week celebrations since 1988. The week is designed to raise awareness of the need for alcohol, tobacco and other drug and violence prevention, early intervention, and treatment services. It is the largest, most visible prevention awareness campaign observed annually in the United States.