“Red Ribbon Week was fun because we tried something new with the QR readers. Our hope this year was to better inform students that respecting yourself not only includes refraining from substance abuse, but also getting enough sleep and eating right,” Katie Park ’16 said.

Red Ribbon Week began after the kidnapping and murder of a DEA, Drug Enforcement Administration Agent Enrique Camarena in 1985. Camarena, nicknamed Kiki, was working undercover in Mexico where he, along with many other undercover agents, helped to shut down many multimillion dollar narcotics manufacturing operations in Mexico. Though the officers had much success, they acquired enemies in drug cartels. Leaders of cartels killed key informants, and kidnapped Camarena and his pilot Captain Alfredo Zavala-Avelar, who were both killed later. Camarena’s hometown of Calexio, California responded with a community wide presentation of red ribbons. The ribbons were worn as a sign of the dangers of drugs and alcohol. In 1988 during the Reagan Presidency, Red Ribbon Week was recognized nationally.

“I think what went well was having student voice and hearing what their ideas were,” Kathy Roemer, Upper School counselor said. “I really liked the bathroom stall pictures, too. We tried the videos so that we wouldn’t take up people’s time during announcements, but not enough people watched them. Next year we’ll probably show videos during announcements to make sure people get the message.”

Each day of October 27-October 31 in the Upper School was themed for a certain aspect of how to respect oneself. To kick off the week, red popsicles were given out to promote awareness for substance abuse. On Tuesday, each advisory was given a bag of healthy snacks that had questions for students to answer and explain to their peers. The value in getting enough sleep and handling stress was promoted on Wednesday when students organized fun activities such as jump roping and hula-hooping during each free period.

“I like that it was more than just about drugs and alcohol, especially the day about healthy eating,” Jennifer Giroir, AP United States history teacher said. “I think that’s important for young people to hear, especially young girls. I also think it was good that they focused on sleep because we always hear about stress, but I think focusing on how students can help relieve stress by getting more sleep is important.”

During announcements on Thursday, two Fort Worth Police Officers spoke to the Upper School students about the various types of offenses minors can receive regarding alcohol, and what each offense’s punishment entails. The hazards of texting and driving were represented on Friday with a simulator. Throughout the week, students were able to use a QR code to text in answers to a questionnaire that was then sent in to a student body poll. On Wednesday for example, the poll was projected during Announcements showing the average amount of sleep students receive.

“I think Red Ribbon Week is a good way to promote drug and alcohol awareness through fun activities that get students involved. My favorite part of the week was eating popsicles on Monday,” Annie Beg ’17 said.