Pictured, from left: Drew Sandage, assistant superintendent at Batesville Schools; Katie Covington, BJHS art teacher; Independence County Sheriff Shawn Stephens; and Matt Douglas, BJHS principal. Covington’s class received a check from the Arkansas Sheriff’s Association to help promote Red Ribbon Week through t-shirts designed by two of Covington’s students. Images via Batesville Schools.
Art students from Batesville Junior High School teacher Katie Covington’s class recently designed a shirt students could wear to promote being drug-free during Red Ribbon Week this year.
Zoie Greenfield (pictured below, left) and Ally Drake (right) created the design for the shirts. BJHS students were encouraged to bring a shirt for the art class to print themselves. Over 350 shirts have been brought so far, Covington says. On Oct. 30, all the students who have had shirts printed with the design will wear them to promote being drug-free.
“I hope the students wear the shirts for years to come, and hopefully, it will promote a culture of students saying ‘no’ to using drugs at this age,” said Covington. “After seeing the amount of enthusiasm and hard work my students have put into this project, I wanted to find a way to help them reach even more students.”
Darlene Sowers, a BJHS counselor, pointed Covington to a grant application from the Arkansas Sheriff’s Association, and Covington recently received a check via Independence County Sheriff Shawn Stephens after submitting the app.
Red Ribbon Week runs Oct. 23 through Oct. 31. It is an alcohol, tobacco, and other drug prevention awareness campaign from the National Family Partnership. (For more information, click here.)
