Weekly roundup: Local schools celebrate Red Ribbon Week, OCDE introduces The 101, and more

Throughout this week, thousands of Orange County students, families, educators and community members united together to take a visible stand against drugs in celebration of Red Ribbon Week.

Across the county, students celebrated this year’s theme of “Drug Free Looks Like Me” with dress-up days, trainings, activities and contests that encouraged drug prevention and healthy well-being.

As we stated earlier the month, Red Ribbon Week was established in 1988 and is considered the largest program of its kind in the nation. Celebrated each year from Oct. 23 through Oct. 31, the week highlights the critical role the whole community plays in helping youth steer clear of controlled substances.

You can check out some of this week’s activities from schools across the county in the slideshow below.

And here are some of the other stories we are following this week.

  • OCDE’s Media Services team produced a brief video highlighting the recent dedication and ribbon-cutting ceremony for two WellSpace centers in Los Alamitos.
  • Speaking of mental health, students are discovering that training for and competing in the Los Angeles Marathon is an ideal way to build resilience, cope with stress and achieve goals, according to a feature in the New York Times.
  • A key advisory panel to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration voted to recommend the use of Pfizer-BioNTech’s coronavirus vaccine in 5- to 11-year-olds.
  • And finally, OCDE Newsroom staff this week published a few tips to ensure kids — and adults — have a safe Halloween night.

This is the part where we encourage you to keep up with local education news stories by bookmarking the OCDE Newsroomsubscribing for emailed updates and following us on FacebookTwitter and Instagram.