ACPS Announces Red Ribbon Week Poster Contest Winners

“Celebrate Life: Live Drug Free” is the message Alexandria City Public Schools (ACPS) students portrayed in their winning entries in the Red Ribbon Week Poster Contest. Though Red Ribbon Week is observed in October, the campaign’s drug prevention message resonates all year long. The poster contest winners whose entries will be featured as part of the 2023 Red Ribbon Week campaign are:

• Elementary school winner: Tasnia Rahman (fifth grade, William Ramsay Elementary School)
• Middle school winner: Honey Lopez (seventh grade, Jefferson-Houston PreK-8 IB School)
• High school winner: Sarah McBurney (tenth grade, Alexandria City High School)

The students were recognized during a substance abuse workshop held on Thurs., March 30, 2023, at Francis C. Hammond Middle School. They also received a $100 gift card.

The Red Ribbon Week contest is hosted in collaboration with the ACPS Family and Community Engagement (FACE) Center, the Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition of Alexandria, SCAN of Northern Virginia and the Mayor’s Campaign to End Bullying.

ACPS distributed 5,000 stress balls to school staff and administrators to share with students during Red Ribbon Week and also conducted community circles for elementary, middle and high school students. These community circles helped students explore topics that are essential to healthy development. These areas include communication skills, resisting peer pressure, the importance of staying substance-free and the health and social consequences of using alcohol, e-cigarettes, marijuana, prescription and over-the-counter medication for so-called recreational purposes.

Posters designed by, from top to bottom, Tasnia Rahman, Honey Lopez and Sarah McBurney.

To learn more about the Red Ribbon Week national campaign and how to get involved, visit https://www.redribbon.org/.