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Ribbon Week celebrated by Prairie Schools
The story behind Red Ribbon week: Enrique “Kiki” Camarena was an undercover agent in the Drug Enforcement Administration. He was assigned in Mexico and lived among drug lords, gathering information about a multi-billion dollar drug trafficking operation. In 1985 the drug traffickers discovered Camarena’s true identity, and they kidnapped, tortured, and murdered him. Kiki Camarena gave his life in the fight against illegal drugs. To honor Camarena and his efforts, communities across the United States began displaying red ribbons as symbols of their commitment to the creation of a drug-free nation. Red Ribbon week is now celebrated every year the last week of October to encourage personal and public support of drug-free living. The Red Ribbon campaign – which was officially recognized by Congress in 1988 – has become one of the most significant drug prevention movements in history. This year Prairie schools had a variety of activities planned to support Red Ribbon Week. Prairie Elementary School kicked off the week with their annual Red Ribbon parade. Students dressed in red, wore their ribbons and were led in the parade by the Cottonwood Police and the Prairie High School cheerleaders and band. Cottonwood’s Fire Dept. followed the students as they made their way down Lewiston Street, through St. Mary’s Hospital parking lot and down Main Street. They then walked up King Street and went back to the school. Many parents and businesses came out to support the kids in their walk to pledge to be drug-free. On Tuesday the students “Put a cap on drugs” and wore their favorite hats to school. Wednesday brought “Sock it to drugs day”. Students and staff alike wore their craziest socks, rolled up their pant legs and shared them with all. Thursday was “Red Rally day” and the students and staff wore as much red as they could. Friday ended the week with “Say Boo to drugs day”. The staff and students at Prairie Middle School planned a few different things for the week. Monday began with the class President giving a speech informing students what Red Ribbon week is all about. Wednesday the students had “Hat Day” with students wearing their crazy and favorite hats. Thursday was also “Red Rally day” with staff and students showing their support by wearing as much red as possible. Friday was “Say Boo to drugs” day. In the morning, KORT announced the top three radio spot winners and placed their spots at that time. In the afternoon, the students had a drug-free dance with admission into the dance being a can of food. If you forgot your can of food, in order to get in to the dance you had to dance with the “troll”. The food collected will be donated to the Cottonwood Food Bank. Goodies were provided for the students during the dance. On Friday the 8th grade posters and 7th grade pamphlets – all with a drug free message – were judged by the staff. The students showed an incredible amount of creativity this year and the judging was very hard to do. Winners of the radio spots, the posters and the pamphlets all received a treat the following week. The class that wore their Red Ribbons the most was Mrs. Vanderwall’s 5th grade class. They wore them 100% of the time! Congratulations to all of the students! The 5th grade students made bookmarks to share with all of the schools and the 6th grade decorated grocery bags from Riener’s and Cash & Carry – all with a drug free message. Prairie High School’s freshmen class made booklets with a drug-free message during their Mrs. Remacle’s English class. On Wednesday they went to the Elementary school and read the booklets to the students. The students came up with some great ideas to spread the word to students to make good choices. On Tuesday the students “Put a cap on drugs”, on Wednesday they “Socked it to drugs” and on Thursday it was also “Red Rally Day”. Thank you to the support received from Riener’s, Cash & Carry, KORT, Cottonwood Police and Fire Depts. and to Hoene Hardware for their donation of safety pins for the red ribbons. A BIG THANK YOU to everyone that helped to support Red Ribbon week ~ with your support the students can make the choices that will make them be the best that they can be!
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