An agent with the New Jersey Division of the Drug Enforcement Administration shows Howell Middle School South students (l-r) Stephanie Huynh, Teresa Sansone and Kelly Durann some of the equipment that is used by agents during drug busts. The students were attending Red Ribbon Day at CentraState Medical Center, Freehold Township. PHOTOS BY JAMES McEVOY Kelly Fallon, an eighth-grader from the Howell Memorial Middle School, offered a simple reason to avoid drugs and alcohol.
“The choice you make today may affect your whole future tomorrow,” she said.
Kelly was one of 30 Howell eighth-graders who learned about the effects of drug and alcohol abuse, peer pressure and bullying during Red Ribbon Day activities at CentraState Medical Center, Freehold Township, on Oct. 28.
The third annual event hosted 200 students from the area and featured a tour of a Drug Enforcement Administration Clandestine Lab Response truck, documentaries and special goggles that were intended to simulate inebriation.
Special Agent Doug Collier speaks to middle school students about the importance of Red Ribbon Week and drug awareness during the third annual event held at CentraState Medical Center, Freehold Township, on Oct. 28. Katie Capestro, another student who attends the Howell Memorial Middle School, said it is important for young people to realize how the choices they are making now could impact them in the future.
“It’s important because drugs can mess up your entire life,” she said. “If you never start drugs then you never have to worry about it. Because once you start it, you can never stop.”
Ryan Foley, a student at Howell Middle School South, said that apart from learning about the dangers of drugs and alcohol, he enjoyed the opportunity to meet and hang out with pupils from other schools.
“We’re all from different schools and we haven’t met before, and we are really coming together for a good cause here,” he said.
Brian R. Crowell, special agent in charge of the New Jersey division of the DEA, gave a keynote address in which he urged the students to be ready to say no.
“You have to be prepared for what situation comes, because it’s going to come,” Crowell said. “We need you guys, you’re our future. We need you to stop the demand [for drugs] in the United States. One person can make a massive difference, always keep that in the back of your mind.”
Following the event, Crowell emphasized the need to engage students of middle school age.
“We try to get the message to them and prepare them for when they will be approached. This event gets them all engaged,” he said.
Crowell also emphasized the need to have parents and teachers as active participants in promoting an anti-drug message.
Paul Farley, the principal of Howell Middle School North, stopped by to visit the students and said the event was an excellent complement to school activities. “During their formative years we are looking for students to have this kind of experience to have a chance to see all the members of the community and [to see] that everyone is behind this,” Farley said. “It’s all about making the right decision and making good choices, and hopefully this event will emphasize that.” The event was introduced to Howell through Jeanna Corrigan, the student assistance coordinator and anti-bullying coordinator for the Howell K-8 School District.
Corrigan previously participated in the event with a different school district.
Red Ribbon Week is the nation’s oldest drug prevention program and is celebrated during the last week of October. The week promotes drugfree life in honor of DEA Special Agent Enrique “Kiki” Camarena, an 11-year veteran of the agency who was captured and murdered by Mexican drug traffickers on Feb. 7, 1985.