Last Monday night, November 5^th, a group of high school students did a visual demonstration outside of the Jackson Town Council Chambers to raise awareness about secondhand smoke exposure and the upcoming Great American Smokeout (November 15, 2007).

The demonstration had four components:

1. Students lit 60 luminaria, surrounding the entrance to the town hall, to recognize the 60 – 80 people who will die in Wyoming, this year, due to second hand smoke exposure.
2. Students did sidewalk chalk art – drawing around the kids bodies – to represent the number of Jackson youth who will start smoking this year.
3. After this, the students joined the town council meeting to participate in the public comment portion of the meeting. They explained what their demonstration represented and distributed an educational fact sheet to the town council about the connection between youth tobacco initiation rates and smokefree community regulations. They also displayed their Polaroid Project, a visual representation of support for a smokefree Jackson amongst our high school and community population.
4. Finally, the youth informed the town councilors that they will be getting in touch with them over the next couple weeks to meet with them individually to talk more about preventing youth initiation at the community level.
   
   
   Click here for photos from the demonstration!

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