Youth Tobacco Prevention was identified by the School Health Advisory Council as an action, that when combined with other actions in our community, has a reasonable chance of making a difference in substance abuse prevention in our community. This is a new program in our community.

The audience for this Youth Tobacco Prevention initiative is Jackson County Public School students and their families.  The program aims to make a difference at the individual/interpersonal behavior level as well as organizational/policy level. Implementation will take place in Jackson County Public Schools.

The partners for this Youth Tobacco Prevention initiative include:

Evaluation Plan:

We plan to evaluate the impact of Youth Tobacco Prevention through the use of Results-Based Accountability^TM to monitor specific performance measures. We will be monitoring How Much, How Well and/or Better Off Performance Measures. Our evaluation activities will be tracked in the Work Plan table, above. 

Sustainability Plan:

The following is our sustainability plan for Youth Tobacco Prevention

• Use program performance measures to ensure ongoing effectiveness and demonstrate success
• Identify champions who strongly support the program 
  • This will be champions within the public school system (staff and students) as well as community leaders and organziations who support the program
• Establish a consistent financial base for the program and provide adequate staffing
  • The School Health Advisory Council will apply for the 2020 Drug Free Communities grant to secure funding and staffing for a minimum of 5 years
• Increase community awareness on the issue and demonstrate the value of the program
  • Submitting articles to local news outlets, talking on the local radio station, and purchasing billbboards for ad campaigns will raise awareness and demonstrate value

2020 Updates

2020 has been a unique year that presented many challenges, especially for public school systems.  Most of the tobacco prevention initiatives that were originally scheduled for 2020 had to be cancelled due to health concerns, remote learning, and the banning of outside visitors on school campus due to the virus. 

The peer-to-peer tobacco education program, applying for the Drug Free Communities grant, and the student SHAC survey were put on hold due to COVID-19. 

Different Products. Same Dangers. awareness campaign was promoted at both high schools, the early colleges, and the middle schools in the County prior to the pandemic shutdown.  Bathroom mirror clings were placed in the bathrooms and posters were put up throughout the school.  A video was shown on the Smoky Mountain High School daily news.  

Each Jackson County Public School completed the School Health and Performance Evaluation (SHAPE) to identify strengths and areas of improvement in the mental health systems within the district and each individual school.  This will allow the School Health Advisory Council and School Board to create and approve a policy for mental health systems for Jackson County Public Schools. 

Further, the Health Department and School Health Advisory Council continued to promote tobacco and vaping prevention through social media outlets, through approved messaging shared by the Regional Tobacco Prevention Manager. 

2019 Updates

Smokey Mountain Elementary hosted the Regional Tobacco Prevention Manager in fall 2019 to facilitate learning and awareness around the vaping epidemic. 

The School Health Advisory Council Action Team (SHAC) is working with WCU Nursing to begin a peer-to-peer tobacco education program for anyone caught with tobacco products on school campuses, or anyone interested in quitting.  

SHAC will be applying for the Drug Free Communities Grant in 2020. 

In 2020, SHAC will begin promoting the Different Products. Same Dangers. awareness campaign at all middle and high schools in the county.

In March 2020, Jackson County Public School students will take the annual Drug Free Communities SHAC survey on their active and peer-perceived substance use. 

Beginning in 2020, with SHAC's support, each Jackson County Public School will complete the SHAPE assessment.  With the results, SHAC will work with the Board of Education to implement social/emotional and substance use prevention curriculums for Kindergarten - 12th grades.