Around 500 students and teachers, grades 5-8, circled the track at Ronan High last Friday in the final flourish of Red Ribbon Week. Some strolled, some ran, and some gleefully chased each other, clearly relishing the crisp fall afternoon.

The fun walk, and an awards ceremony that followed in the high school gym, culminated a week of presentations about the perils of drug and alcohol abuse and the paths kids can choose to build healthier lives.

Tomy Parker, a Marine veteran who had his legs amputated after an IED exploded under his feet in Afghanistan 12 years ago, was among those racing around the track, except that he used his arms to propel himself on his custom trike. The Ronan alum was also among those who shared the wisdom gleaned from a long struggle with addiction with students last week.

“It was incredible to be able to talk to them,” he said Friday. “Being a kid that went through this school system, a person that experimented with drugs while in Ronan schools, and to be able to come back and talk to them in what I feel is a way the truly approaches the matter in a positive way.”

“I think unresolved trauma creates addictions,” added Parker. He offered students “the tips and tricks I use to deal with my trauma, which is to communicate with people, but the only way to do so is to be vulnerable and you can only be vulnerable with those you trust.”

Another Ronan graduate, Vincent Bird Webster, joined Shadow Deveraux for a rap performance on Friday in the RMS performing arts center. Webster, who now coaches girls’ basketball at the middle school, was a troubled teen, according to RMS principal Frank Jobe.

As the former high school vice principal, “I was the one who had to hold him accountable,” Jobe recalls. “He was going through a lot,” and the two frequently clashed.

“It was fun to be in the room when he was talking to the kids,” says Jobe, who teared up a little after the performance. “Here’s a kid that has come from being an angry young man to being a role model. That’s super exciting.”

Other presenters last week included motivational speaker Ryan Wetzel, a former standout basketball player whose life changed direction after a rare leg injury, former NBA all-stars Michael Ray Richardson and Otis Birdsong, and members of the Lake County Drug Task Force.

The event was coordinated by RMS P.E. teacher Steve Woll, with help from his co-teacher, Madison Wassam, who is on maternity leave this fall. The two first concocted plans for an expanded Red Ribbon Week last fall, as the school was emerging from the cloud of COVID. That event was so successful, they amped it up even more this time around, with help from other teachers, tobacco prevention specialist Juanita Swaney, Tribal Health, Salish-Kootenai College, the CSKT, and community sponsors. In addition to events and speakers, kids earned points and prizes all week long.

National Red Ribbon Week, held the last week in October, began in 1985 in response to the murder of DEA Agent Enrique Camarena, who was kidnapped and tortured by members of a drug cartel. Today, it serves as a catalyst to mobilize communities to educate youth and encourage participation in drug prevention activities.

This was the most elaborate Red Ribbon Week so far, and sponsors and individuals are already reaching out about next year’s event. According to Woll, Red Ribbon Week is especially relevant on the reservation, which has a higher percentage of kids affected by drug and alcohol abuse.

While the many events are designed to inspire students, the subject matter can also trigger difficult emotions. “It’s a tough week,” Woll says. “For some kids, it kind of tips them over a little bit because it’s so close to home. But on the other hand, if we can reach one or two kids each class period it’s well worth it.”

There’s also a personal connection that he shares with students. “Drug and alcohol addiction in my family runs rampant so I try to share my story too so kids know they aren’t alone,” he says.

According to Jobe, many of the speakers are former athletes, because “kids get excited with athletes – that’s a big piece of who we are as a school and as a community. But the message was ‘we are students first’.”

When Woll and Wassman began planning this year’s Red Ribbon Week last spring, “all I could do was laugh because I knew it was going to be a huge disruption. But it was a good disruption and they made it a good disruption.”

He praises teachers and staff for their willingness to shake up schedules. “We pretty much mess up the whole week, but we have an exceptional staff” that understands “it’s for the kids.”

While he had no specific information about drug use among middle school kids, he says it’s definitely an issue across the state and beyond. “All of us are dealing with the same thing – whenever I hear an administrator or teacher say ‘there’s none of that in our school,’ it’s like dude, wake up.”

He believes education is crucial in helping kids avoid the temptation to use drugs, alcohol, e-cigarettes and tobacco. “When people have knowledge, it’s powerful.”

Woll also isn’t naïve about the struggles kids and families face. “When you’re an addict as a kid you don’t realize how much you hurt your parents and when you’re a parent who’s an addict you don’t realize how much you hurt the kids,” he says. “A lot of kids are being raised by siblings, by grandparents – it’s not an easy fix.”

“We talk about forks in the road and choices – curiosity Is a huge thing (for students),” he adds. “All we can do as teachers, as educators, as parents and adults is show them the right direction.”