Students stage Red Ribbon march against drugs
Washington Street Elementary students marched for Red Ribbon Week
Students at Hartsville’s Washington Street Elementary School took to the streets on Tuesday, Oct. 30, waving signs and chanting pledges to live drug-free. This annual march is part of Red Ribbon Week, the oldest and largest drug prevention program in the nation, reaching millions of young people during October 23rd – October 31st each year.
The Red Ribbon Campaign began as a way to honor slain DEA agent Kiki Camarena, who was kidnapped and murdered by a Mexican drug cartel in 1985. Friends and family started wearing red satin ribbons in Camarena’s memory, and the campaign spread grass-roots style until it drew sponsorship from the National Family Partnership. The NFP also offers parent training and networking to keep children, families and communities safe, healthy and drug-free.
The 2018 Red Ribbon Week theme is “Life is Your Journey, Travel Drug Free” and signs crafted by Washington Street Elementary students reflected this theme with slogans like “Don’t Follow The Pac” (featuring Pac-Man video game art) and “Oh, The Places You’ll Go When You Say No To Drugs.”
Students and teachers marched around campus and several neighborhood blocks, accompanied by Hartsville Police Department officers. To learn more about the National Family Partnership and Red Ribbon Week, visit www.nfp.org and www.redribbon.org
