In honor of National Drug Facts Week, jagPRIDE organized a variety of activities to promote drug use awareness throughout the week of Monday, Jan. 26 through Friday, Jan. 30.

Club members hid handprints with facts and statistics about drug use around the school as part of a contest. Students collected the handouts and turned them into their seminar teacher in order to earn a cookie cake party. Science teacher Betsy Meek’s seminar won with 44 handprints.

Freshman jagPRIDE member Shayne Howell said he believed student participation in the competition turned out better than expected.

“I think it went really well. I’ve asked some of my friends and they said they found a lot,” Howell said. “Hopefully they read the facts and learned more about drugs.”

In addition to the informational handprints, the organization asked trivia questions about drugs during the morning announcements. Junior jagPRIDE member Annabelle Dillon said the various ways jagPRIDE promoted the week provided vital information for students about the consequences of using drugs.

“What we’re doing is important so people can make informed decisions,”  Dillon said. “It will help them know what they’re actually doing when they use drugs and what the effects could be.”

National Drug Facts Week is a nationwide week dedicated to help teens understand the truth about drug use.

“It’s a week to tell people what the dangers are of using drugs and to help try to prevent it,” Dillon said. “It makes sure people have all the information [about drug use].”

According to Howell, members of the club hope that by promoting National Drug Facts Week, students will be persuaded to make better choices.

“We just want people to think twice about using drugs or alcohol, and maybe some people will be convinced not to,” Howell said.