RUMFORD – Samantha Skunk, designed by William H. Scott, a professor at the University of New Hampshire, is a program intended to bring awareness of the harmful effects of tobacco use to younger children.

Samantha Skunk tells the story about how she tried smoking to be cool and turned from her “unique magenta” to a “sickly, smelly, smarmy green.” High school students assist Samantha in telling younger students that “Smoking Stinks, Like Camel’s Breath” and they are told to “Never Start!”

Lauren Thurston, with Students Working Against Tobacco at Mountain Valley High School, portrayed Samantha Skunk. Information was presented to schools in SAD 21, 43 and 44, including Peru, Andover and Woodstock.

The program was brought to students by Project NOW: Northern Oxford Wellness of the River Valley Healthy Communities Coalition in Rumford. For more information about the program, call 364-7408.