Middle School Students Design Anti-Smoking Message
With a message of "Stay Tough, Don''t Puff," two students at Hancock Place Middle School were recognized for a creative anti-smoking message from the Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine as part of an art contest for this November''s "Great American Smokeout."
The school''s Amber Dodson and Mariann Schuessel were first place winners of a Siteman-sponsored contest among 6th, 7th and 8th grade students of Lemay''s Hancock Place Middle to design artwork encouraging young people to be smoke-free.
The artwork is now emblazoned on t-shirts that were given to the school''s students at their annual "Students of Distinction" assembly on October 28 and will be on display at the "Siteman Smokeout for Life" at Barnes-Jewish Hospital on Thursday, November 17.
Siteman Cancer Center director Timothy Eberlein, MD, presented Dodson and Schuessel with a $250 gift certificate to Westfield South County Mall at the assembly.
"It''s exciting to know area children are knowledgeable about the dangers of cigarette smoking and interested in helping others ''kick the habit,''" says Dr. Eberlein.
Second and third place winners were awarded $50 gift certificates to the South County Mall, but there was also a category for "Best Inspirational Essay." That award went to 8th grader Nick Mathes who wrote about his motivation for entering the contest.
"My motivation for making a design is to see my dad or any adult choking of smoke. I hate the smell of smoke. My dad can smoke almost a whole pack a day. I usually get sick and go into another room. I heard second-hand smoking is worse than real smoking. So I could get lung cancer and I don''t even smoke. I tried to get my dad to quit, but he won''t. So this shows, once you get started that it''s very hard to quit."
Mathes was also given a $250 gift certificate.
The contest was sponsored by the Siteman Cancer Center, Tobacco-Free Missouri Coalition, Hancock Place Middle School and BJC HealthCare School Outreach & Youth Development.