Red Ribbon Week is a national event that encourages drug awareness and the dangers of drug use. Red Ribbon Week is held each year from Oct. 23 to Oct. 31.

      Freedom does different events during the week to symbolize the importance of Red Ribbon Week. On Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday we will be doing fun activities and dress up days to show for it. On Tuesday it’s Pj’s and slippers day to give the slip on drugs. Wednesday’s theme is to put a lid on drugs. Wear a hat that day. Thursday is stand up to drugs and cancer. It is pink out. Finally, Friday is say ‘boo’ to drugs and wear your costume.  

  “There will be a couple of assemblies per grade level, we will have two assemblies,” Mrs. Susie Suleski, middle school counselor, stated. On Thursday Oct. 28, the seventh and eighth grade students will have an assembly held by Mrs. Suleski in the auditorium during the first period. There will be a video shared for the seventh and eighth graders. The fifth and sixth graders’ video will talk about the dangers of drugs, and how to prevent the dangers of drugs. 

“Red Ribbon Week was based on a DEA agent who was killed by a drug cartel,” Mrs. Susie Suleski, middle school counselor, stated.

  The campaign was started in 1985 for Kiki Camarena who was murdered by a group of drug traffickers. They use illegal ways to manufacture, and sell drugs. To honor the death of Kiki, people started a campaign called ‘Drug and Violence Prevention Awareness Campaign.’ They wore small red ribbons on their shirts. This small idea soon rocketed to be the nation’s oldest and largest drug prevention campaign, which was made to prevent anything like this from happening again.