One of my favorite weeks at Elm Street School is Red Ribbon Week. This year, that week fell from October 27 to 31. Normally, the school participates in activities such as “Crazy Hair Day” and “Mis-matched Clothes Day” to get kids interested, but this year, it was a little different. During the week, students and teachers participated in various activities showing that they are drug free. For example, at the beginning of the week we “Closed the Door On Drugs” by decorating our classroom doors with drug-free messages. Our principal, Mrs. Martin, discussed “The Red Ribbon” with children in grades 2-6, which represents being drug free. The grades 4-6 student council members showed their support for being drug free by planting red tulip bulbs near the Elm Street School main entrance. On Friday morning, my fellow eighth graders and I watched a video called, “Dying High: Teens in the ER.” The video was very graphic. I know it had as much of an impact on my friends as it did on me because I saw my friend’s faces while they were watching the teens and young adults in the emergency room. Throughout the rest of the day, the eighth grade students participated in many different activities related to the video.

Finally, the last activity that the whole entire school participates in is the Red Ribbon Parade. We all leave the school at 9:30 a.m., and walk down together to the Mechanic Falls Legion. There the band is waiting to play a number of songs while the students watch and sing along. When the Elm Street School students arrive at the Legion parking lot, they get refreshments. The municipal departments of Mechanic Falls join us with the fire trucks and town dump trucks and sound their loud horns. The younger students love this part of the parade! Mrs. Martin, our principal and the town manager, John Hawley, tell us again about the importance of remaining drug free in our lives. Once the parade is over, we march back to the school and continue with more activities to celebrate Red Ribbon Week. Teachers tell us how important it is to abstain from drugs, and the message really gets across during Red Ribbon Week.