Pictures are Worth a Thousand Words

If a picture is worth a thousand words, what is this picture saying? Tobacco advertising is sneaky and effective. This picture was snapped while driving through Logan, Utah on Main Street right in plain view. Think of what is being said here, "look new low tobacco prices", right below the ever raising gas prices. "So, while you may struggle to fill your car up, come in and pick up some cheap tobacco".

You may not think a sign like this is going to attract new smokers, but think about it, many if not a majority of Logan residents will walk or drive by this sign at some point during any given week. What do they learn? They learn that tobacco is now cheaper than it was, they learn that tobacco is sold at that location, and maybe they learn that, "oh, its being advertised right in front of me so it must be OK to try". Maybe non of this happens and it really is ineffective advertising. The Bear River GYC is working hard to document advertisements like this to build community support to stop tobacco advertising, because it is effective and We Have Seen Enough!

Important Minute!

As the first quarter comes to an end the Bear River GYC has accomplished a lot. GYC members have definitely been “the voice” in their respected communities. As we approach our district meeting on December 20, 2012 we want to remind everyone to either complete the online evaluation forms for the first three steps, or bring completed evaluation forms to the meeting. It is very important that we receive these evaluation forms at or before our district meeting. We will take a minute to collect any paperwork that is brought to the meeting. We have conveniently scheduled our district meeting before the end of the Mayan calendar to ensure all paperwork can be collected. Thank you to those of you who have already taken a few minutes to complete the evaluation forms online.

Now that you have been reminded about the paperwork, take a minute to reflect on the first quarter GYC accomplishments. In the first quarter of the year GYC groups were established at schools throughout Cache, Logan, and Box Elder school districts. These GYC groups volunteered at the annual Red Ribbon Run to be drug free, established an anonymoustips.com account to combat bullying and drug use, and collected “We’ve Seen Enough” tobacco and alcohol advertising signature cards. These signature cards will be used later to show the support the GYC has gained against tobacco and alcohol advertising.

To celebrate these first quarter accomplishments, the GYC leadership has planned a fun district meeting filled with minute games and hot cocoa. We will also have the pleasure to hear from Camille Roundy from the Utah Department of Health and Jill Parker of the Bear River Health Department. Camille will address tobacco-advertising laws while Jill will take a minute to provide a short training on social media. We look forward to seeing each of you there. 

Paper Towers and Legislative Powers

Thursday’s district meeting was a blast. In preparation for our annual trip to the capitol, we were educated on how to send a holiday greeting to our legislative representatives to inform them of our trip to see them during the first part of next year.

Once again we split up into four groups for a fun activity. Each group was given a stack of paper with the instructions to build the tallest tower. No other rules or guidelines were set. As a side twist each group had to learn the names of everyone in their group and one person from each group would be tested at the end. After several minutes of tower building it was clear one group had created a sturdy tower reaching from the table to the ceiling. Another group, however, caught onto the excellent design idea but began to build on the floor, gaining a possible few feet in height from group one who started their tower on the table. Group one quickly reassessed the situation and decided to also move their tower to the floor; however, their tower was never the same and quickly fell to the floor only to be reconstructed into a long wall. The second group capitalized on the ingenious design to end the night with the tallest towers. The other two groups provided some outstanding and creative tower designs. The groups also learned each other names quite well.

To end the evening we were honored to have newly elected Representative Ed Redd stop by to help us learn more about talking to representatives and other things about the legislature to help prepare us for our trip to the capitol. We learned more about what the legislature does and also the best way to get in contact with our representative to inform them of important issues in our communities. Representative Redd also shared some advice about life with us, how we can do anything and be anything that we want to be. We are very grateful for his time and for the wisdom he shared with us.

“Be the Voice”… Anonymously

Back in late summer GYC leadership met to decide on a theme for the year and to construct the activities that GYC will be asked to do throughout the year. “Be the Voice” was selected as the theme; however, we know it is hard to always be a visible voice around friends and classmates. To overcome this barrier and to help us all “Be the Voice” the GYC leadership decided that one of the objectives for the year would be to have each school register for anonymoustips.com. This web page allows someone to report anything going on at their school, like bullying or drug use, without anyone ever finding out who turned in the report. It is a great resource to allow students to “Be the Voice” without having to worry about becoming a target. It is up to each one of us to "Be the Voice" in our schools and communities to bring about positive change.

The Incredible Egg

District Meeting was everything it was “cracked-up” to be in October. To help GYC members get to know each other and learn how to work as a team, an egg drop activity was done. GYC members were split up into four groups, with each group getting the same materials including one egg, with the instructions to make something that will keep the egg from cracking when dropped. We ended up with a few scrambled eggs, but two groups were able to protect the egg.

The highlight of the night came when each GYC member was able to take an Oath of Office. We are grateful to Todd Barson and Keith Larsen for helping out with each Oath of Office.