SADD Observes

Great American Smokeout

Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) at Newtown High School sponsored a day of workshops on Friday, November 16, to coincide with The Great American Smokeout.

Mary Ellen Bolcer, director of St Vincent’s Hospital’s Teen Smokestoppers. presented five sessions to more than 750 high school students. A former smoker herself, Ms Bolcer has developed innovative teaching techniques to reach teenagers. For example, in a visceral demonstration of the effects of cigarettes on the lungs, she passes out preserved human lungs. Students can see for themselves the differences between healthy lungs, and those ridden with cancer or emphysema.

Judy Blandard, the district’s health coordinator, explained that every day in the United States, 3,000 children begin smoking. SADD members at NHS are committed to lowering this number, and to helping their fellow students make positive, healthy choices.