Subcommittee praises Tar Wars rollout and keeps anti-vaping outreach for secondary grades

The North Kingstown Health and Wellness Subcommittee on May 13 reviewed recent anti-vaping outreach and agreed to sharpen prevention efforts for older students while preserving elementary programming.

Pam Panero summarized anti-vaping activities, including a poster contest (limited submissions) and Tar Wars presentations across every elementary school. "It was a great awareness campaign," a member said, and the committee noted that student conversations at lunches suggested the outreach resonated even where poster participation was low.

Middle and high schools: committee members said the contest and Tar Wars had the most natural fit in elementary grades but urged a stronger, tailored approach at the middle- and high-school levels. They recommended using student councils and student assistant counselors as program hubs and discussed creating on-site kits and permanent resource materials at school sites.

Anecdotes and next steps

- Student engagement: Members described several moments where students corrected peers and gathered around prevention tables in cafeterias—evidence the outreach sparked peer-to-peer discussion.

- Materials and incentives: Trish Collie and others suggested making resources permanently available at school sites and discussed incentives (for example, modest gift cards) to raise participation in contests or preventive activities among older students.

- Coordination: The committee noted the North Kingstown Prevention Coalition’s involvement and discussed centralizing materials so health teachers and student support staff can access them readily.

Quotes

"They came up to the table and were actually talking about it," Pam Panero said of students who attended Tar Wars presentations. "We were the only district that did it at all the elementary schools in the district," a member added, praising the scale of the rollout.

Ending

The subcommittee asked staff to develop a plan to adapt the anti-vaping kit and contests for middle and high schools and to coordinate with student assistant counselors for next year’s activities.