Media Advocacy Training About Tobacco Prevention for Palm Beach County Students

Students from 13 counties across South Florida will be in attendance to learn how to speak to the media and use it to get their tobacco prevention message out on March 17, 2012 at 9:30 a.m. at the Palm Beach County Health Department’s Headquarters located at 800 Clematis Street, West Palm Beach, FL.

 The training is organized by the Bureau of Tobacco Prevention Programs to bring together regional youth active on the event planning committee conference calls to a face-to-face meeting where they are able finalize event timeline and messaging develop during regional conference calls. 

This will allow them to get to know each other and develop a closer working relationship to continue building their prevention event for the upcoming World No Tobacco Day (WNTD). Students Working Against Tobacco (SWAT) members from 13 counties in South Florida will be hosting a kick-off event on May 5, 2012, at SunFest in West Palm Beach, to promote awareness this day. 

World No Tobacco Day is an annual tobacco control day of action sponsored by the World Health Organization (WHO). In the past, students from Palm Beach County SWAT worked with the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids and SWAT members from St. Lucie, Collier, Broward, Miami-Dade, and Monroe counties on a postcard drive to magazine editors requesting advertisements marketing Camel No. 9 cigarettes to be removed from their publications. Due to national pressure, the industry removed these advertisements for one year. 

The Palm Beach County schools sending representatives are: 

William T. Dwyer High School

John I. Leonard High School

Royal Palm Beach High School

John F. Kennedy High School

Roosevelt Middle School 

Additionally, being face-to-face will provide youth the opportunity to actively participate in workshops where they will develop and practice delivering talking points about the campaign, as this will be a needed skill set on May 5th as they attempt to engage 75,000 SunFest attendees and media with tobacco prevention messages. 

SWAT is a youth advocacy organization whose mission is to empower youth to stand up and speak out against the tobacco industry marketing tactics. 

For more information contact Kim Sandmaier at (561) 434-8044 or via e-mail at kimberly.sandmaier@palmbeachschools.org.

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 Public Affairs Contact: Natalia Arenas – (561) 357-7662 – natalia.arenas@palmbeachschools.org