LAKEWOOD KMPS 94.1 FM normally doesnt award its Student of the Week title to more than one student for the same week, but for Lakewood Middle School eighth-graders Jamie Due and Michelle Schoon, the radio station made an exception Jan. 26.
I insisted, said Linda Underhill, a teacher and advisor for Teens Against Tobacco Use at LMS. Theyve both worked so hard, staying after school and through their lunch hours, going well beyond whats required for class, and theyve done it all on their own.
Underhill was referring to Due and Schoons anti-tobacco campaign, as part of TATU, which began when the pair showed up for school in cheerleaders costumes on Halloween, and spent their entire lunch period reciting anti-tobacco cheers to anyone who would listen.
Since then, the students have been preparing presentations for the fifth-through seventh-graders of the Lakewood School District, as well as for the local chapters of the Rotary, as well as for the upcoming regional meth and TATU summits, the latter of which is expected to draw representatives from as many as 20 TATU groups throughout Snohomish County.
In addition to planning live performances as part of TATU school assemblies, the duo is putting together a two-minute film on DVD, warning about the perils of tobacco use, while still making anti-tobacco posters and practicing their cheers at one anothers houses.
Underhill commended Due and Schoon, not only for their willingness to pitch their message to hundreds of their peers at a time, but also to communicate with that audience as peers.
Were trying to involve them, Schoon said. Its fun for us to teach them about how tobacco is dangerous to their health.
We dont want it to be boring for them, Due said. We want to make it fun for them, and to make them think that tobacco is a dumb thing to do. We show people how tobacco companies lie to them, about what they put in their products. I feel like Im making a difference.
They truly just enjoy the role they have taken on, as mentors of TATU, Underhill said of Due and Schoon. I simply wanted more people to know about these hard-working, very positive personalities.