MOBILE, Ala. — Mobile County Public Schools has named its Red Ribbon Leaders for the school year, recognizing 70 students who will represent their schools in the Drug Education Council’s Red Ribbon Student Leadership Program and help lead drug-prevention efforts on their campuses.
The program is designed to promote healthy lifestyles and community involvement, and the students selected will serve as the face of that message at their schools, from elementary campuses to high schools across the district.
What Red Ribbon Leaders do
The leaders have two main responsibilities this school year. First, they will help their schools plan special activities and celebrations for Red Ribbon Week, which is held during the last week of October — now just a few weeks away. Then, in the spring, each leader will help plan a school-wide community service project.
That combination gives students a chance to practice planning, teamwork and public leadership while delivering a positive, drug-free message to their classmates.
The 70 Red Ribbon Leaders
Mobile County Public Schools congratulated the following students, listed with the schools they represent:
- Alba Middle School: Josie Creal
- Allentown Elementary School: Numayrah Khan
- Augusta Evans School: Samuel O’Field
- Austin Elementary School: Sophia Kang Touch
- Baker High School: Jackson Stewart Miller
- Breitling Elementary School: Maximus Barbour
- Bryant High School: Nevaeh Wittmann
- Burns Middle School: Layla Wells
- Booth Elementary School: Adalyn Peters
- Calcedeaver Elementary School: Rory Wilkerson
- Calloway-Smith Middle School: Azaia Cunningham
- Castlen Elementary School: David Roberts
- Causey Middle School: Brayli Brown
- Chastang-Fournier K-8 School: Mela Wheat
- Citronelle High School: Ryan Taggart
- Clark-Shaw Magnet School: Chloe Pender
- Collier Elementary School: Julien Nguyen
- Collins-Rhodes Elementary School: Xavierra Marie Williams
- Council Traditional School: Mayson Chapman
- Craighead Elementary School: Ikea Pender Ward
- Davis Elementary School: Lottie McMahon
- Dawes Intermediate School: Ava Kruml
- Denton Magnet School of Technology: Issac Whisenhant
- E.R. Dickson Elementary School: Joshua Burnette
- Dixon Elementary School: Saylah Bowie
- Dodge Elementary School: Jaylan Rashaun Chandler
- Dunbar Creative & Performing Arts School: Makenleigh Jane Coleman
- Eichold-Mertz Magnet School: Oliver Weatherford
- Fonde Elementary School: Leen Ahmed
- Forest Hill Elementary School: Tyler Pettway
- Gilliard Elementary School: Danielle Woodyard
- Grand Bay Middle School: Jaia Woodyard
- Grant Elementary School: Minnie Yates
- Griggs Elementary School: Aaron Pineda Carranza
- Hall Elementary School: Kingstyn Davis
- Hankins Middle School: Paris Taite
- Haskew Elementary School: Emilynn Pierce
- Hollinger’s Island Elementary School: Colton Burke
- Holloway Elementary School: Raegan Hunter
- Howard Elementary School: Breanna Kimble
- Hutchens Elementary School: Saylor Baronet
- Just 4 Developmental Laboratory: Antonie Harris
- LeFlore Magnet High School: Kelleigh J. Dixon
- Leinkauf Elementary School: Le’Anna Grant
- McDavid-Jones Elementary School: Jordan Schnorr
- Maryvale Elementary School: Michael Dametrice Yates
- Meadowlake Elementary School: Raegan Reichert
- Mobile County Training School: Saraye Hopkins
- Mary G. Montgomery High School: Natalee Cannon
- Morningside Elementary School: Zaniya Jones
- Murphy High School: Jazzlyne Jackson
- North Mobile County K-8 School: Elsie Mosley
- Old Shell Road Magnet School: Piper Turner
- Orchard Elementary School: Halauni Wiggerfall-Jones
- O’Rourke Elementary School: Rachel Lovelace
- Pathway K-5 School: Antonella Williams
- Pathway 6-12 School: Amari Scott
- Phillips Preparatory School: Addison Jones
- B.C. Rain High School: Jabar Armstrong
- Robbins Elementary School: Ryan Farrell
- St. Elmo Elementary School: Brylee Lyons
- Semmes Elementary School: Eleanor Odom
- Semmes Middle School: Kinsley Johnson
- Shepard Elementary School: Jaxsan Pitts Sewer
- Tanner Williams Elementary School: Violet Davison
- Taylor-White Elementary School: Sydney DeRosia
- Turner Elementary School: Storey Price
- Whitley Elementary School: Wynter Joi Cook
- John Will Elementary School: Dwight Williams
- Wilmer Elementary School: Esme Dunlap
Background: the story behind the red ribbon
Red Ribbon Week traces its roots to the 1985 death of Enrique “Kiki” Camarena, an agent with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration who was kidnapped and killed in Mexico while investigating drug traffickers. In the aftermath, friends and community members in his hometown in California began wearing red ribbons in his honor and as a symbol of their commitment to reducing the demand for illegal drugs.
The idea spread, and by the late 1980s Red Ribbon Week had become a national observance. Today, it is widely recognized as one of the largest drug-prevention awareness campaigns in the United States, with schools across the country holding themed spirit days, assemblies, pledges and other activities that encourage students to make healthy, drug-free choices.
A local partnership
In Mobile County, the Red Ribbon Student Leadership Program is run by the Drug Education Council, a local organization focused on substance-use prevention and education. By working through student leaders at individual schools, the program aims to make the message come from peers rather than only from adults, an approach prevention educators often favor because young people tend to listen to one another.
The leaders’ work does not end when October does. The spring service project gives each school an opportunity to turn the lessons of Red Ribbon Week into action that benefits the wider community.
What families can do
Red Ribbon Week is also a natural time for families to talk with children about healthy choices. Prevention experts generally encourage parents and caregivers to start age-appropriate conversations early, listen without judgment, set clear expectations, and model the behavior they hope to see. Families can also ask their children what their school has planned for Red Ribbon Week and look for ways to take part.
For the students on this year’s list, the recognition is both an honor and a responsibility — and a chance to lead their classmates by example. Congratulations to each of Mobile County’s Red Ribbon Leaders.
