Red Ribbon Week at SJHS

Red Ribbon Week is a time for students to dress up at school, participate in fun games, and also learn about the dangers of drugs and alcohol.  Red Ribbon Week usually takes place in the last few weeks of October.  Red Ribbon Week for Springville Junior High was October 7th, 8th, and 9th.  

Schools across the nation participate in Red Ribbon Week in memory of Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agent Enrique “Kiki” Camarena who was working undercover in Mexico for four years on a big drug bust.  He was soon caught and killed by a drug cartel that found out he was working with the DEA.  His family donned red ribbons in his memory, and thus Red Ribbon Week was born.

Red Ribbon Week is for students K-12 around the nation to learn about drugs and alcohol, and the harm they can do.  Here at SJHS, posters were put up around the school, listing facts about underage drinking, and drug use.  Students could participate in trivia questions involving the facts on the posters each day for a prize.    

There was also a theme each day so students could dress up!  The theme for Monday the 7th was, be a hero and don’t do drugs; students made pledges at lunch not to do drugs, and you could dress up like your favorite superhero.  Tuesday the theme was friends don’t let friends do drugs.   It was twin day or dress like your best friend day, and Wednesday, students wore red for the last day of Red Ribbon Week.  According to Ms. Miley, an assistant principal at SJHS, she thinks that “it’s a great thing to do in schools.”  

On the Monday of Red Ribbon Week, the student council from both semesters, and the Latinos in Action group held an assembly where they told the story of Agent Camarena and how Red Ribbon Week started.  Skits were performed by the student council, and a huge Jeopardy game took place between all the students in the assembly! “I like Red Ribbon Week because it’s fun and you get to dress up!” said Ana Jimenez, a ninth grader and a member of the Latinos in Action group at SJHS.