CMDS is Making Good Choices

by Liza Dunlap and Townes Quinn
Christ Methodist Day School began Good Choices Week October 24th in the courtyard with the release of twenty-five red balloons, which symbolized the beginning of the national campaign against drug and alcohol use.  We learned what nutritious foods to eat, how to stay healthy, how much to exercise, and what is good for our bodies. We also learned how drugs and smoking can be addictive and to not do them because they are dangerous.
Our headmaster, Mr. Jackson, began each day with important information, followed by a raffle contest.  For example, he might ask us to write down the name of a protein we ate for breakfast.  Our teachers put our answers into a raffle box at Nurse Boeving’s desk, where a winner was drawn daily. 
During the week, our school counselor, Mrs. Gieselmann, went to every classroom to make sure we understood how harmful drugs and alcohol are for us. In our classroom (Mrs. Reynolds’s fifth grade), we had a relay race to see who could unwrap and eat a chocolate kiss the fastest. In the first round, we unwrapped it with our bare hands. In the second round, we had to unwrap the kiss with socks on our hands. We were really slowed down by the socks. The game showed us that drugs are harmful to our bodies and that they can be addictive. We all wanted more chocolate. Playing the relay game changed our point of view.
Good Choices Week is a great way to show students from pre k through sixth grade what paths to take by playing games, having raffles, and blending education with fun activities.  We now understand how important it is to take care of your body, but that it is a good choice. This week was a really good experience for us and we would recommend it for any school.