Students Take Stand Against Drugs for Red Ribbon Week

Hundreds of children and teens crowded the Simi Valley High School stadium Wednesday evening to enthusiastically say “No!” to substance abuse.

The rally, attended by students from throughout Simi Valley, was one of numerous activities in Ventura County to celebrate Red Ribbon Week, which began locally on Monday and continues through Halloween.

Started in 1985 after the slaying of federal drug enforcement agent Enrique Camarena by drug traffickers in Mexico, Red Ribbon Week encourages students nationwide to avoid all drugs, including alcohol and tobacco, and to pursue healthy activities.

Ventura County schools have set aside special days during Red Ribbon Week to increase students’ awareness of the consequences of substance abuse.

Since Monday, area teachers have passed out hundreds of red ribbon pins and wrist bands, as well as anti-drug buttons, bumper stickers and fliers.

“We have something going on every single day,” said Nancy Nauman, a special education teacher and peer counseling advisor at Balboa Middle School in Ventura.

On Wednesday, Balboa’s sixth- through eighth-graders and their teachers wore red clothing to symbolize their united stand against substance abuse. They also decorated the campus with anti-drug banners and red ribbons. Next week, the campus plans a red ribbon golf ball chipping contest and an anti-drug assembly.

At Ventura’s Junipero Serra School, each class from kindergarten through fifth grade is creating a large square from construction paper in honor of Red Ribbon Week. All the squares will be joined together later in the week to form a giant quilt.

In Oak Park, kindergarten through fifth-grade students at Oak Hills Elementary School are scheduled to meet officers Friday morning from the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department to learn about the dangers of drug abuse.

The youngsters will examine the department’s search and rescue gear and meet a K-9 police dog. Students will also assemble on the school’s lawn and form the letters D.A.R.E., which stand for Drug Abuse Resistance Education, for an aerial photograph.

Students at Manzanita School in Newbury Park, who released 600 red helium balloons to kick off Red Ribbon Week on Monday, will have red polka dots painted on their faces and will decorate their classroom doors with the red ribbon motif.

At Simi Valley High, the marching Pioneers and Royal High’s drummers were among the highlights at the Wednesday evening rally, which included guest speakers Mayor Greg Stratton and Police Chief Randy Adams.

Olympian Justin Huish, who won two gold medals in archery, also made a special appearance at the event to shoot a bull’s-eye before the cheering crowd.

Eleven-year-old Kristen Egermeier, a seventh-grader at Valley View Junior High School, said she appreciated the meaning of the city’s seventh annual Drug-Free Community-Wide Rally.

“It’s a message to kids to stay off drugs,” she added.

Maryl Mashburn, 16, a junior at Royal High School who plays on the varsity volleyball team, said Red Ribbon Week is about making a positive choice to lead a productive life free of the problems drug and alcohol abuse can cause.

“It’s about knowing why to stay off drugs and being involved with the community,” Maryl said. “There’s a lot more to it than just wearing a red ribbon.”