Berea College, Madison Southern High School and County Health Department create Tobacco Awareness campaign for schools

Berea, KY—Berea College students along with the Madison County Health Department and Madison Southern High School’s Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) club have developed a tobacco awareness campaign that has the potential for use within public schools statewide.

On Thursday, January 25, the True Life: This Could Be You campaign will be unveiled at the Madison Southern High School auditorium. A mural, brochures, posters, radio and TV public service announcements and bulletins will be on display during the unveiling event. Refreshments will be available beginning at 5:30 p.m. and the program will begin at 6. All are welcome to attend.

The project was initiated by the Madison SADD club. Like many other area high schools, the administration and student body face teen smoking issues such as second-hand smoke; for some teens, addiction. Looking for a solution, the SADD club enlisted the help of the Madison County Health Department and Dr. Billy Wooten, assistant
professor of communications at Berea College who teaches a public relations communications course. Together they proposed a tobacco awareness campaign to the Kentucky Department of Health which provided a grant for the campaign’s development.

The Berea College students involved are enrolled in two classes being taught during January. Under the direction of Wooten, students in Communications 109 (public relations) are learning the theoretical concepts of public relations while operating their own non-profit, PR firm—Students Organizing Community Relations (S.O.C.R.). Professor Rodney Clark is instructing other students enrolled in a filmmaking course on the art of creating public service announcements for radio and TV, which are part of the campaign.

At Berea, S.O.C.R. teams with the College’s Center for Excellence in Learning Through Service (CELTS) to foster an environment in which both S.O.C.R.’s students and the firm’s community partners – in this case the Madison County Health Department and Madison Southern High School – put service and community building at the core of the collaboration.

For information about the unveiling event, contact Robyn Moreland, director of the Youth Service Center at Madison Southern at (859) 986-7294.; or contact Dr. Billy Wooten at (859) 958-3762.

Day Phone: (859) 582-6338
Night Phone: (859) 582-6338