Volunteers at Work By Mary J. Andrews, Lauderdale County Extension Agent Related Article (The World's Unsung Heroes)

Forty-five nursing students from the University of North Alabama participated in the Traveling Health Fair program. This program is designed to teach middle school students (grades 5-8) about the dangers of tobacco use. The fair travels from school to school and the curriculum is used in conjunction with health education classes. The nursing students served as volunteers, visiting 13 schools and instructing 2,669 youth about the importance of not smoking.

Lauderdale County Extension Agent Mary Andrews and Pat Mackey from the Partnership For A Tobacco Free Shoals trained the nursing students.

The goals and objectives of the program are as follows:

What's the Message?

Goal: To increase student awareness of the techniques employed by advertisers to manipulate consumer behavior and to teach students how to resist these techniques.

Objectives: To discuss the purpose of advertising, to identify common advertising techniques, to identify and analyze tobacco advertisements, and to discuss alternative ways of responding to tobacco ads.

Gasping for Air

Objective: Students will examine ways in which the use of tobacco interferes with health and well-being and achieving goals.

Life Skill: I will not smoke cigarettes or use other tobacco products.

Objective: Students will practice making responsible decisions.

Life Skill: I will make decisions that promote health.

Objective: Increase a student's awareness of the dangers and risks involved in using smokeless tobacco.