DAVIDSON COUNTY – Teachers in Davidson County this week will be telling students that being “drug free is the key.”

As part of Red Ribbon Week, teachers at Hasty Elementary School will wear red bracelets, and students will have red ribbons on. Hasty Elementary, as well as Brown Middle School, has planted 100 red tulips in honor of Red Ribbon Week.

“Children need to hear the right message,” said Jane Withers, principal of Hasty Elementary. “They are going to hear the wrong message about every corner they turn. We need to do the best we can to put good values in the children. School is the perfect opportunity to do that.”’

Logan Embler and Riley Berrier, members of the student council, spent last Tuesday planting red tulips in honor of “Plant the Promise Week” and “Red Ribbon Week.” According to Withers, planting tulips is a sign of hope.

“I think it’s a good way to express how saying no to drugs isn’t a bad thing to do,” Berrier said.

“We are doing this for Red Ribbon Week because it’s helping us to stay drug-free,” Embler added.

Withers said each classroom would get a red shovel to commemorate the planting of the tulips. “There is a lot of research about children and growing things, and the connection there is with the plants and caring for the plants,” Withers said.

“This is the first time they’ve done this,” Withers said of planting the tulips. “We’ve had banners and posters. We had nice mats at the front of the school that say drug free. This will be a reminder every spring when the children see the tulips. We will come back and revisit what we did.”

dignasiak@hpe.com | 888-3657