RRHS wins regional contest

Ken Johnston

It may be a small high school, but it is full of spirited determination and was proven last week when Rainy River High School was named the winner of the Smoking! Don’t Start-Quit and Win contest.
The students of RRHS won $2,000 in the third annual contest not only for their astounding 92% student body participating, but for the extra efforts they put into it.
The contest used to primarily focus on getting smokers to quit, but now includes prizes for students pledging not to start smoking as well.
The contest is sponsored by the Northwestern Health Living Partnership and the Ontario Tobacco-free Network. It is facilitated by the Northwestern Health Unit (NWHU).
Heidi Ivall of the Rainy River NWHU office gave RRHS student council member Amy Anderson a lot of the credit for RRHS’ success. “She worked hard to promote extra activities so the school could win bonus points,” said Ivall.
RRHS held school assemblies, and activities like playing intramurals as alternatives to going outside for a cigarette. They also made the contest the main focus of their website’s main page.
“The pressure was on with four schools really chasing this hard,” said Ivall. But in the end the extra efforts of student council an the exceptional participation of the students at RRHS put them a notch above the others.
The $2,000 prize will be used to have a healthy celebration of the victory. Student council was also exploring ways the money could be used to help keep smokers smoke free and to encourage people not to start.
While the prize money is awesome, Ivall said, “The greatest news is that some quite smoking here.” She said that some students found it very tough, but each person trying to quit was partnered with support buddies.
“Quitting is hard for anyone. The average smoker makes seven attempts before being successful.”
The contest news came during Drug Awareness Week at RRHS. Another event coordinated by the NWHU, the week long events raises awareness about such things as the consequences of drinking and driving. On Monday the students put posters up around town with hard hitting messages about drinking and driving. They also drew chalk out lines on the streets around town.
Thursday morning a pancake breakfast was held that raised over $300 for the 2005 chem-free grad.
On Friday things wrapped up with the Ontario Provincial Police holding sessions all day featuring the drunk driving auto simulator and the fatal vision goggles which give the students an idea what the effects of alcohol can be on their driving skills. The also showed a video of a fatal car crash.
The O.P.P., along with some RRHS staff members, played four fun volleyball games in was dubbed, “I will meet you on the court, not in court.”