= As Nancy Reagan said, “Just say no” to drugs.

This week, schools around the country are celebrating Red Ribbon Week.

The week is a campaign dedicated to alcohol, tobacco and other drug and violence prevention. The week is always held in October each year.

On Tuesday, students at Rachel Patterson Elementary and Escambia County Middle Schools took part in the awareness campaign.

This year’s theme is “Your future is key, so stay drug free.”

The theme was created by Iris Yu, a student at Solon Middle School in Solon, Ohio, according to Red Ribbon Campaign’s website.

During the presentation at RPES, “Mr. Joe” provided a fun, yet education experience for the students. Mr. Joe is a part of Epic Entertainment, an Austin, Texas-based, an educational entertainment company that uses high-energy, interactive shows to teach students positive messages at school assemblies and church shows. The company performs nationwide.

He used the time to talk about drug and alcohol prevention, along with the prevention of illegal drug use.

Joe’s use of a counting method helped the students grasp the concepts well. Additionally, a dancing competition and bouncy ball entertainment were a part of the presentation.

At one point, Escambia County Sheriff’s Office employees, who were present, chipped in and blew toilet paper from blowers at students. They loved playing in the toilet paper. Who knew?

Sitting there watching Mr. Joe interact with the kids brought back memories of when I went through Red Ribbon Week as a student.

Memories of school assemblies and educational times came flooding back to me.

We were entertained, yet learned a lot about the negative effects of drugs and alcohol.

There were motivational teams that came in and encouraged us to stay strong against drugs.

I hope the students learned a lot from the program Tuesday, and that they’ll think back on this day in the future.