Students taught tobacco prevention, awarded for efforts

To the editor:

The Clay County Health Department continues to promote a tobacco-free community through education and presented its 2016 Tobacco Prevention Presentation to all Clay County 5th grade students during April. We presented to approximately 314 students and their teachers. This program stresses the dangers of using tobacco products, such as cigarettes and smokeless tobacco, as well as the dangers of secondhand smoke. Tobacco prevention is very important to Indiana, as tobacco kills approximately 10,300 Hoosiers every year.

We hope the information presented to these children will encourage them to remain tobacco-free throughout their life. As part of the 5th grade tobacco prevention presentation, we have a poster contest. The students each designed a poster relating to tobacco prevention. The posters were judged on May 5, 2016 and eight school winners were chosen. These posters are very creative and a great way to educate our community about the dangers of tobacco.

The poster winners for 2016 are: Addie Moore, Clay City Elementary; Macey Payne, Cornerstone Christian Academy; Preston Patton, East Side Elementary; Karsyn Kikta, Jackson Township Elementary; Kelsey Eder, Meridian Elementary; Eden Mace, Staunton Elementary; and Mykala Clark, Van Buren Elementary. This year's judges were: Clay County Auditor Jennifer Flater, Forest Park Elementary Nurse Kim Funk and Clay County Health Department Assistant Emergency Preparedness Coordinator Regina Yoder.

A special thank you goes to the following Clay County businesses who were kind enough to donate gift certificates/products so that each winner was awarded a gift bag full of wonderful prizes:

Bob & Angie's Hometown Café, Clay City; Brazilian Lanes, Brazil; Burger King, I-70, Brazil; Dairy Queen, Brazil; Exotic Feline Rescue Center, Centerpoint; Family Video, Brazil; The Freeze, Brazil; Long John Silver's, Brazil; Lynn's Pharmacy, Brazil; Pappy's BBQ, Brazil; Peak Performance Gym, Brazil; Riddell National Bank, Brazil; Subway, Brazil; and Sunrise Family Restaurant, Brazil

A huge thank you goes out to all of the students who participated and to all who were involved in this year's Tobacco Prevention Program for assisting us in our effort to keep our children tobacco free and to educate our community about the dangers of tobacco products and secondhand smoke.