Grand Avenue Elementary School Celebrates Red Ribbon Week

Uniondale, N.Y. – The Uniondale Union Free School District’s Grand Avenue Elementary School recently held their annual Red Ribbon Week celebration to advocate for health, safety and kindness. The week-long celebration included fun activities and themed days for students, faculty and administration. Mrs. Nadine Patterson, social worker at Grand Avenue School led a discussion and a Q&A session with students about treating everyone with respect and how to maintain physical health. Students also received goodie bags with drug-free themed pencils, erasers and stickers.

“Once again, Red Ribbon Week was a huge success,” said Juanita Bryant-Bell, Principal at Grand Avenue School. “We will continue to encourage our students to be respectful, eat healthy, get plenty of rest, exercise frequently, and to always say no to drugs.”

On Tuesday, the student body wore red and received red ribbons to pledge that they were “Red”y to live drug free and with zero tolerance to bullying. The next day was Wild and Wonderful Wednesday, where everyone wore animal prints or pictures. This day focused on discussing how to respect and protect the environment and all of its creatures. To end the week, Friday was Fitness Fun Day, where students and faculty participated in various activities to highlight the importance of supporting healthy minds and bodies.

Red Ribbon Week was first celebrated in 1988 to promote awareness of the dangers of alcohol and drugs. It is sponsored by the National Family Partnership, a nonprofit organization created in 1980 by concerned parents who felt they needed to take the initiative in drug prevention. Today, the organization has devoted its efforts to the overall well-being of youth, as well as drug prevention, education and advocacy. The Uniondale Union Free School District uses this cause as a means to educate Uniondale students about character education and the importance of kindness.

For more information about Uniondale Union Free Central School District, please visit the district’s website at https://district.uniondaleschools.org/