The school’s annual Red Ribbon Week is taking place October 22-26, in order to bring awareness to teens and parents about drug use.

This year the event is especially important due to vaping becoming a new and growing trend among high school students, according to the district website. Students, such as Xander Villacorta, sophomore, have become increasingly aware of the use of e-cigarettes and see an importance to the event.

“Drug use [especially] vaping, is prominent not only in this school, but in many schools all around the area,” Villacorta said. “I mean you start to learn about the effects [of vaping] way back in middle school health, but I guess a lot [students] don’t really care. [Red ribbon week] will probably make students care a little bit more [due to] the awareness it tries to spread.”

The school is attempting to spread awareness by get students involved just how they have in previous years, by decorating the school, signing pledges and encouraging dress up days, according to the district website. Student involvement is the most important in situations like these because if students aren’t involved there’s really no point in having it at all, students say.

“The entire event is [mainly] targeted towards students, and if they don’t care, then what’s the point of doing the event in the first place,” Villacorta said. “I think by doing stuff like dress up days and other activities is an easy way to get students involved and aware throughout the entire event.”

Despite the fact that the dress up days and signing the pledge isn’t mandatory, simply hosting the event still bring attention to the event and the story behind Red Ribbon Week, Mike Podraza, physical education teacher, says.

“It’s just overall good to bring awareness to it. [Although] students aren’t required to dress up, I think it still brings awareness to the issues and why we even have a Red Ribbon Week in the first place,” Podraza said. “It serves a positive message to students all around the school.”