Fox Lane HS Focuses on Healthy Choices During Red Ribbon Week

For the fourth year in a row, Fox Lane High School students “kicked the negativity out of their lives” in physical education classes as part of Red Ribbon Week, the largest drug abuse prevention campaign in the United States. All week long, schools across the nation participated and gave students an opportunity to renew their commitment to a healthy and substance-free lifestyle.

This year, the Youth 2 Youth Club provided red ribbons for faculty and staff and created a fun Spirit Week to help promote awareness. There was also a new mindfulness activity to help students “guide their minds to healthy places.”

Before their PE class, Youth 2 Youth President Juana Recinos and Vice President Sophia Alvarez joined Student Assistance Counselor Angela Alvarado to explain to their peers what they hoped the activities would bring to their lives.

“Since we all have stress or negative thoughts that get in our way, we’re asking you to kick the negativity away,” Sophia told her classmates.

Before choosing whether to play matball (a game similar to kickball) or meditate, Alvarado reminded students about the week’s intended purpose.

“People take this week to pledge to be substance-free or to reduce their use,” she said. “I encourage you to use this week to reflect and make healthy choices.”

Some students stayed in the large gym to play an energetic game of matball, while others made their way to the small gym, where they grabbed a yoga mat and participated in a twenty-minute guided meditation.

“I really want you to take some time to disconnect. Mindfulness is a way of dealing with stress,” Alvarado told the meditation group before they started.

Juana loved the fact that so many students and teachers seemed to appreciate the work the club did with decorating the school and planning Spirit Week.

“My math teacher, Mrs. Hamilton, has been involved in Spirit Week and made my class clap for my work during announcements,” she said. “My physics teacher has also been supportive.”

Juana really enjoyed planning Spirit Week and seeing people’s reactions to the themes, which included things like Dynamic Duo Day (students and staff dressed in matching outfits to “double up against drugs”) or Lei Off Drugs Day (the club passed out leis to anyone who wanted one).

“It makes me happy to know people like our activities or are excited to participate,” she said. “It’s a great motivator to do more in our club.”

Alvarado thinks the week serves as an important reminder.

“I think it’s important for students to understand making healthy choices at this age can help deter them from a life-long struggle with addiction,” she said. “I also think it’s important to remind students that there are many options for dealing with their stress and struggles. Making the choice to live substance-free will help them learn how to cope with those challenges in a positive, healthy way.”

If you have any questions or concerns about your child, want more information about the Student Assistance Program or Youth 2 Youth Club or need referral information, please contact Annemarie Feddeck for the middle school at (914) 241-6026 or afeddeck.811@bcsdny.org or Angela Alvarado for the high school at (914) 241-6050 or aalavardo0823@bcsdny.org.