Erwin Middle School’s Lifesaver’s Club came out on top, but everybody won at the recent Tobacco Free Quiz Bowl at Salisbury Mall.
The Rowan County Youth in Action Against Tobacco Council organized the Quiz Bowl as its contribution to national Kick Butts Day. Kick Butts Day and the Quiz Bowl were held on April 2.
The Youth in Action Council is made up of high school students throughout Rowan County who meet the second Monday of each month at the Rowan County Health Department.
In preparation for the Quiz Bowl, Youth in Action members prepared the tobacco-prevention questions, developed a study guide and visited each middle school’s tobacco prevention club to practice for the Quiz Bowl.
All the activities and events were funded by the N.C. Health & Wellness Trust Fund.
Five teams participated in the event: Corriher-Lipe Middle School’s Just STOMP (Stop Tobacco On My Planet) Club, West Rowan Middle School’s Teens Against Tobacco Club, North Rowan Middle School’s Mavericks Outslam Tobacco Club, Success After School Program and Erwin’s Lifesavers.
Don Cole, of SAVE (Survivors and Victims of Tobacco Empowerment), served as referee for the contest. Cole is a lung cancer survivor who speaks to teens throughout the state about how tobacco affected his life.
The questions dealt with tobacco-related topics, including the proven harm that tobacco causes users.
The study guide includes facts such as:
– Thirty-three people die every day from tobacco-related illness in North Carolina.
– More than 5 million children alive today will die prematurely from smoking-related illnesses.
– Nearly every adult who smokes (almost 90 percent) took his or her first puff at or before the age of 18.
– Approximately 3 million kids younger than 18 are current smokers.
– Twenty-three percent of all high school students ó 22.9 percent of males and 23 percent of females ó smoke.
As champions of the Quiz Bowl, Erwin’s Lifesavers got a plaque and the promise of an ice-cream sundae party at a future club meeting.
The Success After School Program won a pizza party for getting the most supporters to attend the event.
The Rowan-Salisbury School System currently has nine active youth tobacco prevention clubs, and they are recruiting new members.
Members of the Youth in Action Against Tobacco Council will lead tobacco prevention programs at local schools, churches or other community organizations.
For more information, call Natalie Gray, youth tobacco prevention manager, at 704-216-8849 or e-mail her at grayng@co.rowan .nc.us.
More information is available at http://tobaccofreekids. org.