Winooski students mount smoke-free sign campaign
image courtesy of Winooski Partnership for Prevention press release, original photo caption: “Winooski School District students and staff hang smoke free and vape free signs with Winooski Partnership for Prevention after school advisor. From left to right: Keegan,Gabby, Lukas, Brendan, Rayna, Heather, and Cheyne.”
Middle and high schoolers mounted signs across the Winooski School District campus this spring to remind people it’s a smoke- and vape-free zone as part of an effort between the district, state and Winooski Partnership for Prevention.
The students are in an afterschool club called Above the Influence, named for a countrywide campaign run by the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. The goal is to help youth navigate the pressures surrounding drugs and alcohol to make safe decisions.
The Winooski Partnership for Prevention, a drug abuse education nonprofit, detailed the collaboration between the Vermont Department of Health and school district in a late May press release.
With the guidance of advisor Heather Win, district facilities supervisor Cheyne Racine and district communications director Gabby Hora, the students selected locations on the campus where the signs would be most visible. Each sign declares in bold lettering that “this property is smoke and vape free.”
In 2014, Vermont passed Act 135 — a law that “extends secondhand smoke protections in workplaces, motor vehicles, public places and childcare settings,” according to the Vermont Department of Health. On school grounds, the act aims to protect students from secondhand smoke, including that from vapes.
The Winooski campus has long been substance-free, but the students behind the campaign hope the signs serve as a reminder of the district's values and as a message to visitors.
Quoted in the press release, fifth grader Rayna said: “It’s important for us to care about kids’ and parents’ health at Winooski School District because we have to make sure that everybody will come out okay, and everybody will be safe and smart with their choices.”
