SAFE Youth History for 2013-14
Participating schools:
Boyne City, East Jordan, Charlevoix, Harbor Springs, Pellston and Petoskey
Homecoming project, which included:
Retailer Education: Law enforcement and youth teamed up to educate and give out posters
about how to ID before selling Tobacco and/or Alcohol; to local area stores where alcohol and
tobacco are sold.
Sticker Shock: Youth asked the storeowners for permission to place stickers on packages of
beer in the store coolers. These stickers read: “Thank you for NOT providing this alcohol to
anyone under 21!” and “It is illegal to buy alcohol for minors!” 5000 sticker were placed on
products between the two counties.
Tickets: Because we care… tickets were placed on cars during school and at football games.
These tickets gave information to adults and youth about under-age drinking. 1600 tickets
were given out.
Promise Bracelets: Youth designed two types of bracelets to give out before Homecoming; the
camo bracelet read “No need for weed”, the glow in the dark bracelet read “Make a right call
stay away from alcohol”. 2800 bracelets were given out.
Holiday Pen Project: 3000 Holiday message pens were distributed to high school students in
Emmet and Charlevoix schools. SAFE Youth members came up with six positive messages to
include in the pens. “Joy to NOT doing drugs”, “Light candles, not joints”, “Buy a tree, Don’t do
THC”, “No Beer, More Cheer”, “Smoke a bowl, get coal”, & “SAFE Youth in NM”.
Brown Out: Brown Out is an event organized by SAFE Youth to raise awareness of the harmful
effects of tobacco and encourage people to quit tobacco. SAFE Youth members came up with
a Brown Out anti-tobacco design and had the design printed on brown t-shirts. SAFE Youth
made arrangements to distribute the t-shirts—at no charge—to students at five
predetermined home basketball games. 500 T-shirts were given out to youth in Emmet and
Charlevoix counties. A tobacco resource table was also available at each game.
Varsity Poster Project: The goal of this project is to show the middle school students that
there are plenty of athletes that choose NOT to use alcohol and/or drugs. Athletes from all
sports areas were carefully chosen to participate. SAFE Youth members presented the posters
to the middle school students explaining the reason why the posters were designed. We want
the younger students to realize there are a lot of varsity athletes that DO NOT use and are
great role models.
SAFE Youth Dances: SAFE Youth members planned three dances for Emmet and Charlevoix
County youth. The first dance was a collaborative effort with Festival on the Bay and the other
two took place at the Char-Em Fairgrounds. There were over 450+ youth in attendance at
each dance.
Kick Butts Day: SAFE Youth participated in Kick Butts Day, a national day of activism sponsored
by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids that empowers youth to stand out, speak up, and seize
control against Big Tobacco. SAFE Youth members designed a sticker and worked with local
coffee shops to place stickers on coffee cups on March 19th-KBD. Over 2400 stickers were used
for the “sticker shock” project.
Parks and Beach Video: SAFE Youth members made a one in a half minute You Tube video
explaining how important it is for parks and beaches in our area to go tobacco free. This
video was rolled out for KBD 2014 and also being used to educate our local municipalities and
state representatives. The video was also provided on the following:
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SAFEinNM Facebook page
SAFE Youth members
SAFE Youth parents
SAFE in NM adult members
MI Tobacco section Park and Beach grantees
Prevention Network Facebook page and contacts
State Representatives, Foster and MacMaster
All local media
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIsKTBuEE_A&feature=youtu.be
Chocolate Gold Coins with a message: SAFE Youth designed a positive message for St.
Patrick’s Day; “Enjoy this gold one, not a cold one”. Youth worked with Kilwin’s Chocolate
Franchise to have the chocolate coins produced. On St. Patrick’s Day 2800 chocolate coins
were given out to high school students in Harbor Springs, Pellston, Petoskey, Boyne City, East
Jordan and Charlevoix.
Prom Initiative: the youth teamed up with local law enforcement to educate and give out
posters to retailers, about not selling to minors and watching out for people that may be
buying for minors. Retailers were also given information cards to keep by their cash registers
about how to check ID’s and the dates of all the local proms. Sticker Shock: Youth asked the
storeowners for permission to place stickers on packages of beer in the store coolers. These
stickers read: “Thank you for NOT providing this alcohol to anyone under 21!” and “It is illegal
to buy alcohol for minors!” The total number of stickers used was 6000 between the two
counties. Prom Cards: With the support of the local flower shops and tuxedo rental stores
friendly reminder cards were placed inside each corsage flower box and inside the pockets of
tuxedos rented for prom. The cards were redesigned this year and read “Don’t let one night
decide your future. Have a SAFE and Alcohol Free Prom!”
Banner Project: SAFE in NM provided frames for the sporting complex bathroom stalls at each
high school in the two counties. The frames hold an “Above the Influence” designs that SAFE
Youth members created during their Camp Daggett ropes course adventure day.
TAR WARS: SAFE Youth collaborated with McLaren of Northern Michigan to offer tobacco
education to elementary students in Pellston and Petoskey.
Classroom Presentations: Pellston and Petoskey: SAFE Youth members presented on peer
pressure to 7th grade students during the substance abuse prevention curriculum. They also
were great role models for the middle school students to look up to as having a drug free
lifestyle.
“Next Generation” project: SAFE Youth designed a poster-“SAFE is working to keep the next
generation TOBACCO FREE!” Group pictures were taken and posted on our SAFE Facebook
page and Tobacco Free Michigan’s Facebook page with hashtag #SGR50. At the request of the
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of the Surgeon General’s photo sharing
initiative-honoring 50 years of progress in smoking and health.
Children’s Health Fair: Members volunteered at a booth to help with the success of this event.
FACEBOOK Page/Twitter: SAFE Youth has both Facebook and Twitter accounts and actively
uses them to communicate with members, other youth and the community about the
importance of preventing youth substance abuse.
SAFE in Northern Michigan: Projects completed by adult group 2013-14
Napkin Project:
SAFE Awareness Nights:
Town Hall Meetings in Petoskey and Boyne City-How Teens Communicate Today!
Celebration Toolkits: