Over 100 middle and high school students from across eight counties participated in the 2022 Northern Kentucky Regional Youth Summit on Vaping/Tobacco Prevention.
The day-long summit Tuesday at Northern Kentucky University featured a scavenger hunt, Mega Lung exhibit, breakout sessions, near-peer advocacy and leadership skill building focused on the prevention of vaping/tobacco as well as mental health awareness.
(Photo from WellCare)
“The goal of the summit is to offer students and staff, near-peer education about the dangers of ‘Big Tobacco and Vaping,’ offer insight on impacting change around the stigma of mental health, and to empower students with skills around advocacy, awareness, and leadership,” said Mary Schneider of the Kentucky Cancer Program – Northern KY Region.
This regional summit originated out of a collaborative project between the Kentucky Cancer Program District Cancer Council and WellCare of Kentucky’s Community Impact Council after current cancer risk factors and poor lung health outcomes were presented for the region and state.
Over 70 community partners and organizations offered support, expertise, and funding to allow this educational event to occur. Student participants will also be taking part in a school leadership project initiated through their summit day experience and supported by the committee.
“From a school’s perspective, I see this as being a real issue for our kids,” said Jay Brewer, Superintendent of Dayton Independent Schools. “This was a great opportunity for them to get together and talk about it as well as giving them inspiration to go out and be an example to others.”
WellCare of Kentucky
