Last week, my school hosted its first ever Red Ribbon Week! All in all, it was a success and the students and staff had fun!
This post is dedicated to how I organized RRW at my school. I have been trying to bring this important campaign to my school for the last 3 years, so I am very excited that it finally came to fruition.
My school celebrated RRW in several ways. First, we had theme days that related to a drug-free message. Here is a bulletin board I put together to advertise each day:
Here’s a picture of myself with the fourth grade teachers on “Too bright to use drugs” day:
Here’s my full outfit….we combined bright colors and crazy socks. The students LOVED it!
Second, all students and staff received RRW bracelets to wear every day that highlighted a healthy way of life:
Third, I did education in all classrooms K-5 about drugs, the dangers, and how to stay healthy and safe. Here are the booklets I used in grades 2-5. I used “PAWS-itively Drug-Free” with grades 2-3, and “Band Together Against Drugs” with grades 4-5. I was impressed at how age-appropriate and engaging the booklets were. Each student was able to bring theirs home to share with parents/guardians.
I used the book “What Are Drugs?” with grades K-1. I liked the language used in it about helping keep your body and brain safe.
Fourth, I asked my art teacher to make a huge red ribbon for all students and staff to sign, pledging to be healthy and drug-free. Here are some pictures of the ribbon and some students signing it:
Fifth, classrooms were able to decorate their doors or walls with a drug-free message. Two fourth grades and two first grades participated. At the end of the week, I asked several staff to vote which they liked most between the fourth grades and between the first grades.
Here is one door by a fourth grade class. “All aglow, Just say NO” was voted the winner:
“Don’t get wrapped up in drugs” was done by the other fourth grade class. I voted for this one:
This wall decoration was done by a first grade class and was voted the winner:
This door decoration was done by the other first grade class. Each student wrote a drug-free message for the door:
Even our Title 1 room put up a decoration! I thought it was really cute:
The winning classes for the door decorating contest received these smiley face stress balls! One for each student and teacher.
The amount of organization and time it took to pull all of these pieces together was definitely worth it! I really felt like my school banded together as a whole community to celebrate this important week. I don’t know about at your schools, but when my school is doing a special week like this, the air just seems different, and I notice more people connecting in ways they usually don’t. That’s really what this week was all about for me. I hope I can make RRW an annual thing!!
