Educators: Red Ribbon Week is about awareness

As Red Ribbon Week kicked off earlier this week, area high schools prepared for the week-long event with special programs and guest speakers. 

At Daingerfield High School, Guidance and Testing Coordinator Sharmeca Tillis planned several activities for the high school including a special appearance of former Harlem Globetrotter, Buffy "Mr. Magic" Coleman that took place on Tuesday. 

Coleman's basketball show is a motivational show encouraging students to make the right choices and not succumbing to the pressures of doing drugs. 

"With this being my first year as counselor, I am looking forward to changing and enhancing some of our current programs," Tillis said. "In regards to Red Ribbon Week, our daily awareness activities during this week are meant to do just that, make students aware. Each day we have given students information related to drug topics and awareness in accordance with the daily activity scheduled for that day. These activities provide students a way to be involved and participate in bringing awareness to our fight against drugs in our schools. It was my goal for this year's Red Ribbon Week to be more effective with the addition of having this assembly to motivate the students and to positively influence them, exposing them to more entertaining and inspiring information."

At Hughes Springs High School, the idea of awareness is roughly the same. 

HSHS FCCLA Coordinator and FCS Teacher Regena Calcote was in charge of Red Ribbon Week activities. Announcements have been made daily over the high school's intercom with stories and facts promoting a drug free lifestyle.