“We don’t think about our future enough,” Jamie Overschmidt, art teacher, said.

This year Rockwood School District was awarded the Communities Putting Prevention to Work Grant (CPPW) to fund a new branch of project SmokeBusters, and its duration is from Feb. 28, 2011 to Feb. 28, 2012.

SmokeBusters is a 3-year program that works to prevent tobacco use, but it also will give students experience in decision-making, problem solving skills and advocacy.

“It’s a great opportunity to inform our students and community about the negative effects smoking has on our body,” Overschmidt said.

SmokeBusters also incorporates youth to show the consequences of smoking and helps the district to write, pass and enforce the policy on Rockwood R-VI NASBE Gold Standard Tobacco Policy.

The grant requires the district to establish and train Tobacco Free Student Advocacy Teams at all four of the high schools and that the team be led by a faculty sponsor.

The primary focus of this new club is to raise awareness of the negative effects of tobacco products on the human body. Overschmidt will be heading this project in place of Tracey Waeckerle, social studies teacher, who is on maternity leave this year.

The Advocacy Team’s primary responsibilities will include giving lessons to 7th and 8th grade health and P.E. classes at all of the six middle schools and to develop counter-marketing posters that will be circulated at all four high schools.

Overschmidt said Shonda Ambers Philips, coordinator of Rockwood guidance and prevention services, will be making a plan for members of SmokeBusters to follow as they distribute posters around various high schools in Rockwood and educate their peers.

Overschmidt also said she hopes to partner with the Renaissance Club this year when they host their 5K run in the fall.

“We’re going to come up with a display, and then hand out brochures,” she said.

Kim Kleinhans, nurse, said this new program will be extremely beneficial to students mainly because they are more likely to listen to other students who are promoting this cause. She also said this program will be beneficial at both the high school and middle school levels because prevention of tobacco use should start at an early age.

SmokeBusters is the first program at MHS to focus on not only tobacco prevention, but also improving life skills among students.

The plan is to have this new program up and running by Thanksgiving.

Additional information reported by Morgan Purdy.