These Whiz Kids Don't Blow Smoke

Patch Whiz Kids of the Week: Members of Student Coalition Against Tobacco

• Ages: 15 to 18
• School: Ocean City High School
• Accomplishment: Rallied against smoking in Washington, D.C.

Senior Alicia Palombo said going to Washington, D.C., with fellow SCAT members was "absolutely phenomenal."

As president of the Student Coalition Against Tobacco, Palombo said each of the members knows someone who has been affected by tobacco-related illness.

"I just got so much out of it—we were able to really rally for a cause we really believe in," said Palombo, whose hometown is Seaville.

Health/physical education teacher Thomas Gahr has been advising SCAT for nearly 20 years, and it always is a popular group—with some 58 members currently.

Group members who were able to went to Washington to participate in the national "Kick Butts Day." They toted a huge banner they made called the "Human Toll of Tobacco." They collected hundreds of signatures on it that day and continue to do so, hoping for 1,200 all together—the number of people who die each day in the United States due to smoking. 

In addition to Palombo, SCAT members who made the trip were: Vice President Rachel Reese, Maddie Szabo, Nichole Bachich, Taryn Seifert, Aida Pleho, Jim Handshaw, Amanda Conner, Natalia Cabarcas, Jaime Nichols, Tori Langsdorf, Parker Guariglia, Emily Walsh, CC Barrick, Liza Barrick, Andrew Troum and Keely Barrett.

If they convinced even one person not to take up or to quit smoking—we say they are whiz kids all.