Tobacco Use Prevention Education

More people die from tobacco-related illnesses than from AIDS, car accidents, illegal drugs, murder and suicides combined.  In the U.S., approximately 1 out of every 4 teens smokes cigarettes.  In California, those numbers are slightly lower due to the extensive anti-tobacco / education campaigns school districts have implemented since the mid-90’s.  In San Jose Unified, we strive to educate students about the hazards of tobacco use, and through competitive grant funding have developed a comprehensive education plan that supports our efforts to reduce teen tobacco use.

SITE TOBACCO EDUCATION COORDINATOR

Every school has identified a staff member who is their Tobacco Coordinator.  At WGMS, our Tobacco Coordinator is Special Education teacher Elvira Ocamia.  Ms. Ocamia has experience planning large anti-drug and tobacco events in her native country of the Phillipines where she was an educator for many years.  If you have questions about tobacco education activities at WGMS, please contact Ms. Ocamia at .

DRUG PREVENTION CURRICULUM

At WGMS, we have a team of trained teachers who present the research-validated drug prevention curriculum, Project Alert.  This skills-based curriculum focuses on giving adolescents and teens the refusal skills to resist drugs, alcohol and tobacco.  All 6th grade science teachers are trained in this curriculum and teach it to their science classes.  7th grade science teachers teach the booster lessons to 7th grade science classes. 

To learn more about Project Alert, click here http://www.ProjectALERT.com/glance.asp?bhcp=1.  If you have questions about Project Alert at WGMS, contact Assistant Principal of Instruction, Thomas Rousseau at . 

TOBACCO EDUCATION PEER MENTORING

Every SJUSD high school identifies a team of students who are trained in tobacco education and prevention through our CLASP program.  High school teams travel to WGMS classes in four separate sessions, working with middle school students on skills to resist peer pressure and discussing the negative health effects of tobacco use.  To learn more about CLASP, click here:
CLASP_Overview.pdf

If you have any questions about the SJUSD’s tobacco use prevention education programs, please contact District Tobacco Education Coordinator, Julie Bennett at .