Rantoul High School Students “Kick Butts” on April 2, 2008 by “Taking it To the Streets”!
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 31, 2008
Contact
Kari Schweighart, Health Educator
Lori A. Holmes, Public Relations
(217) 531-2927
Rantoul High School Students “Kick Butts” on April 2, 2008 by “Taking it To the Streets”!
Rantoul High School Students Partner with the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District to Raise Tobacco-free Awareness Among Teens
Champaign, IL – Rantoul High School’s REALITY, IL Chapter will hold an official “Kick Butts Day” on Wednesday, April 2, 2008. REALITY, IL is a group of high school students engaged in anti-tobacco advocacy. From 9:30 – 10:00am, Rantoul High School students will be lining up in front of the high school facing Route 136 displaying a series of homemade posters reflecting various anti-tobacco messages for passer-bys. The students hope that their messages might make other students and the local community think more seriously about the negative effects of tobacco use.
Students from Rantoul High School are joining thousands of kids across the country who are taking part in Kick Butts Day, a nationwide initiative that encourages kids to take a personal leadership role in the effort to stop youth tobacco use. Students will be encouraged to sign a Kick Butts Day pledge committing them to assist a friend or loved one to quit smoking or to take the steps necessary to stop themselves.
Rantoul High School has invited Champaign-Urbana Public Health District Staff to support the event with “give-aways” from REALITY, IL. Participants will receive a variety of premiums with the anti-tobacco message. CUPHD staff will also promote their smoking cessation program to students. Kick Butts Day activities will be available for all students during their homeroom time.
“Kids are a powerful part of the solution to reducing youth tobacco use,” said Kari Schweighart, Health Educator for CUPHD, “Rantoul High School students are sending the message that smoking is not acceptable and the consequences are both dire and preventable.”
Tobacco use is the leading preventable cause of death in the United States, killing more than 400,000 people each year. Everyday, more than 4,000 kids try their first cigarettes; another 1,000 kids become addicted smokers, one-third of whom will die prematurely as a result.
For more information about the various smoking cessation programs at CUPHD or other CUPHD programs and services, please call 217-352-7961 or visit CUPHD on the web at www.c-uphd.org.
###