LOCAL

Graham Children’s Health Services of Toe River Supports
4th Annual Tar Wars in Mitchell and Yancey County Schools

Local physicians and community leaders counter-attacked the tobacco industry with its 4th Annual “Tar Wars” presentations in the month of May. “Tar Wars,” a youth tobacco prevention program, targets 5th graders across the country and educates them about the short-term effects and image-based consequences of tobacco use.

Tar Wars coordinator and Graham Children’s Health Services of Toe River (GCHSTR) Board Member Dr. Joseph Antinori said, “Seeing the effects of a lifetime of smoking every day in the office and in the hospital, and knowing how difficult it is for people to quit, it's clear to me that we have to do our part to keep kids from ever getting started."

Nationally, only 2% of 5th graders have used tobacco products, but as they reach 10th grade, a startling 26% of students use tobacco products that include cigarettes, cigars and chewing tobacco.

Dr. Susan MacLean, a local pediatrician and GCHSTR board member said “This program is particularly rewarding because going into the classroom enables me to have a different and unique opportunity to present this important preventative message.”

The program also allows students to compete in a poster contest with a winner at the school and county levels receiving cash prizes. This contest gives students an opportunity to use critical thinking skills and gives parents a chance to open up conversations with their children about the consequences of tobacco use.

This year’s school poster contest winners were:

Burnsville Elementary – Coleman Riddle
Clearmont Elementary – Sarah McCurry
South Toe Elementary – Heath Smoak
Bald Creek Elementary – Abby Estrata
Micaville Elementary – Allison Hopkins
Bee Log Elementary – Camron Stamey
Detyon Elementary – Taylor Silvers
Bowman Middle School – Mary Beth Thomas

The two winners from each county were:

Yancey County – Danielle Silver, Clearmont Elementary
Mitchell County – Rebecca Robinson, Deyton Elementary
Rebecca Robinson was also the North Carolina state Tar Wars poster winner.
She will be going to Washington, D.C. to compete in the National Tar Wars poster contest with all the other state winners on July 13th and 14th. We congratulate her and wish her the best of luck.

Special thanks to Blue Ridge Regional Hospital for sponsoring the billboards where the county poster contest winners will be displayed this summer. The Yancey County Tar Wars winning poster will go up on the billboard near Hardees on Hwy. 19E in August. The Mitchell County Tar Wars winning poster will go up on the billboard at Grassy Creek on Hwy. 226S in July.

Thanks to the time and energy of the many community presenters, this year’s program reached 325 students in both Mitchell and Yancey County! Thanks to this year’s Tar Wars presenters: Dr. Joe Antinori, Penny Bailey, Dr. Dan Barron, Peirce Bingham, Dr. Rebecca Brooks, Karen Brown, Tonda Gosnell, Misty Haire, Dr. David Johnson, Lynda Kinnane, Dr. Tom Kaluzynski, Dr. Kyle Kramer, Dr. Susan MacLean, Dr. Steve North, Greta Reath, Amy Sheele, Dr. Chad Smoker.

Tar Wars is a program of American Academy of Family Physicians and is coordinated through Graham Children's Health Services of Toe River.
 

Both NC state winning poster and Mitchell County winning poster.

Yancey County winning poster.

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This page was last updated on Wednesday, 10 June 2009 04:04 PM