Bethpage High School students helped their younger peers discover the power of positive choices this October as members of the school's Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) chapter visited Central Boulevard, Charles Campagne and Kramer Lane elementary schools during Red Ribbon Week.
The annual initiative, which promotes drug prevention and healthy decision-making, provided an opportunity for high school students to connect with fourth and fifth graders through interactive lessons focused on mental wellness, self-care and positive relationships.
This year's activities embraced a superhero theme, encouraging elementary students to recognize the everyday actions that help them become heroes in their own lives and communities. Wearing superhero masks and capes, SADD members led discussions centered on four key areas: mind, body, relationships and being a hero.
Students shared examples of how they care for their mental and physical health, build positive relationships and make decisions that help themselves and others. The high school mentors then put their younger peers' decision-making skills to the test with an interactive game. As SADD members presented different scenarios, elementary students struck superhero poses when they recognized a positive choice and crossed their arms when a scenario demonstrated a poor decision.
Following the game, students received superhero cape worksheets featuring the four themes. They filled in their own examples of healthy habits and positive actions before decorating their capes, creating colorful reminders of the choices they can make each day.
Beyond the activities, the visits offered an opportunity for meaningful connections between students of different ages. The elementary students enthusiastically engaged with their high school mentors, asking questions, sharing experiences and participating in conversations about emotions, relationships and the importance of asking for help.
Through the Red Ribbon Week visits, Bethpage High School's SADD members demonstrated that being a positive role model doesn't require extraordinary powers. Sometimes, being a hero is as simple as making a healthy choice, showing kindness to a classmate or reaching out when someone needs support.
Photos by: Sophia Marullo, Bethpage High School student press corps