CCHS students strive to be tobacco-free
by Chaffee County
High School
Several students at Chaffee County High School in Buena Vista have resolved to be tobacco-free, and are participating in a special teen smoking cessation program.Chaffee County High School principal Laura Hefner attended a training session offered by the American Lung Association in December to become a facilitator of the teen smoking cessation program Not on Tobacco (N-O-T). The program was developed especially for teens at West Virginia’s Prevention Research Center by researchers and educators. Chaffee County High School was awarded $1,167 to help provide incentives and support for students who wish to be tobacco-free.
The program, which is based on 10 45-minute sessions, runs during school hours and helps students who want to quit deal with issues that matter to teens. Each lesson/session addresses specific topics that assist teens with nicotine withdrawal, how to manage symptoms, coping with friends and family who smoke and tools to quit tobacco.
The class at CCHS began Jan. 18 with 12 students. The group has remained together, with only a few students dropping from the program. After four sessions of understanding nicotine addiction, triggers that cause them to smoke, and tools to quit, the students celebrated with a quitting ceremony, and signed an agreement committing to be tobacco free.
Quit day was Thursday, Feb. 15.
For more information, contact Hefner at 395-4064 or The American Lung Association at (800) 586-4872 or lungusa.org.