This year the annual Red Ribbon week took place October 24-28 and students of the Shanksville-Stonycreek High School participated by wearing their ribbons to school at be ambassadors of a drug free lifestyle.

Red Ribbon Week is a week long event where students from most schools in the surrounding communities promote drug free lives by wearing a red ribbon. The drug free message was promoted throughout the Shanksville community and the nation, by various aspects. Students created posters, banners, and essays to send the message across to others.

This campaign was brought about with the tragic death of  Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Agent Enrique "Kiki" Camarena in 1985. The public began to outpour support for Camarena by wearing red ribbons and campaign being drug free. In 1988, Red Ribbon Campaign was nationally recognized. Today this event still goes on and still is widely recognized.

This year, the Red Ribbon Week slogan was “Hand in Hand, United We Stand Against Drugs” and all of the students at Shanksville got involved in the campaign. Students wore their red ribbons on their shirts and backpacks to show their value of a drug free life.

Some students from the Shanksville-Stonycreek School District wanted to participate in the campaign by creating posters, essays and banners to promote the movement. To their surprise, their hard work resulted in winning prizes for what they created. These students competed against other students from the Somerset County Area for these awards.  

Lindsay Frazier, Avarey Custer, and the Shanksville SADD/TATU Chapter received awards for their masterpieces.

Lindsay Frazier and Avarey Custer both received cash prizes for creating posters that had the best representation of the campaign.

“I knew the theme and created a poster that involved people from all over, coming together to reach a goal of a better world without drugs, and I tried to show everyone working together to reach this goal.” says Avery Custer

The Students Against Destructive Decisions created a banner for Red Ribbon week and received third place for their efforts.  

“We put so much work into that banner to say that we are drug free, maybe others will see that and put the same amount of effort into being drug free,” says Harleigh Hanes.

Red Ribbon Week has been an annual event that has become a tradition nationwide and at Shanksville School District. Students help to promote a drug free lifestyle by creating posters, essays and banners. Students of the United States came together, one week out of the year, to stand united against drugs.