Red Ribbon Week kicked off in Worthington elementary schools this week with students wearing red T-shirts, waving red ribbons and even planting red tulips.

Lori Brown, substitute guidance counselor, said national Red Ribbon Week began Tuesday, Oct. 23, but Worthington Estates and Colonial Hills elementary schools began their Red Ribbon events Monday, Oct. 22.

"Last week, teachers shared messages about making healthy choices with the younger students and antidrug messages with the older students," Brown said. "This week, we began our Red Ribbon Week on Monday by giving out red ribbons to all the students."

The Red Ribbon Week initiative began in 1985, when drug enforcement agent Kiki Camarena was murdered by drug traffickers in Mexico City. His family started wearing red ribbons to honor him, and local classrooms followed suit, Brown said.

Brown said the tradition of displaying red ribbons as a symbol of intolerance toward the use of drugs continued, and the Red Ribbon campaign became national in 1988.

It is now the oldest and largest drug-prevention program in the nation, reaching millions of young people each year. Children are asked to wear their red badges and have the courage to say no to drugs, Brown said.

"I handed out a flier to each classroom that told the story of the campaign, so it is up to teachers how to share it with their classes," Brown said. "Each classroom created a poster last week, which will be on display until the end of the month, where each student made their own collage or antidrug message for the poster.

"In our younger classes, teachers talk to the students about making healthy choices and living a healthy lifestyle," she said. "We tell them, 'We only put healthy things in our bodies so that no substances will hurt our bodies.' "

Students who showed up dressed in red Oct. 23 at Worthington Estates received special stickers with antidrug messages, as did Colonial Hills students who dressed in red Wednesday, Oct. 24.

Colonial Hills students will get an extra reminder of the Red Ribbon campaign this spring when the tulip bulbs they are planting this week bloom in the front flower beds at the school.

"We thought it would be a great activity at Colonial Hills because the PTA asked classrooms to adopt the school flower beds, so we thought the red tulips would reinforce the antidrug message when they see them bloom in the spring," Brown said.

Both schools will have a treat Thursday, Oct. 25: fortune cookies at lunch with the message, "Good choices equal good fortunes."

Brown said students enjoy the whole week.

"I think obviously anything we can do to promote a healthy lifestyle and get an antidrug message across is good for students," she said. "The students love to do things that are fun and fresh, so by promoting our message by doing special activities and posters, it helps them remember a fun and meaningful activity.

"It's also great for students to know they are a part of a national effort and event," she said.

Brown encouraged parents to come in to the schools to see the work students have done.

"We'd love to have parents see the posters and to reinforce what we are saying at school -- they could ask their children what activity they enjoyed they most, or if they liked working on the poster, so they can begin a conversation about healthy choices," she said.