Students Ward Off Drugs With Scarecrows

NORTH BABYLON, NY - North Babylon School District’s William E. DeLuca Jr. Elementary School grades K-5 students, staff and PTA members teamed up on Oct. 19 to create scarecrows as a way to send a message about saying no to drugs.

This event honored Red Ribbon Week, which is an annual campaign that raises awareness to prevent the use of alcohol, tobacco and other drugs and violence.

With 20 classes participating in the event, students marched outside the building and were put into groups, where they took handfuls of hay and eagerly stuffed the dressings of different scarecrow heroes and characters.

This included characters such as Peter Pan, Mr. Incredible from Disney’s “The Incredibles,” Elsa from Disney’s “Frozen,” The Tin Man from “The Wizard of Oz,” a North Babylon football player, and other creative scarecrow versions.

After students were done stuffing and decorating their scarecrow, they strapped them to the fence along the building, as a way to ward off drugs.

DeLuca Principal Vincent Fantauzzi said that the premise is that these newly scarecrow transformed heroes and characters will help students be brave when taking a stand against drugs.

Photo captions:

1: William E. DeLuca Jr. Elementary School students stuffed a scarecrow that reflects the character Elsa from Disney’s “Frozen.”
2: Students eagerly stuffed the dressings of a Peter Pan scarecrow, as a way to honor Red Ribbon Week.
3: Students at William E. DeLuca Jr. Elementary School created a scarecrow that resembled a lion, as a way to ward off drugs.

Photos courtesy of North Babylon Public Schools