AVOID, Anti-Vaping Online Information Dissemination, was identified by Mountain Projects and Graham County Department of Public Health as an action, that when combined with other actions in our community, that has a reasonable chance of making a difference in Robbinsville Middle School in our community. AVOID is designed to educate students about the risks of vaping e-cigarettes, more commonly known as vapes. This is a new program in our community.

The priority population/customers for this curriculum are middle school students, and the curriculum aims to make a difference at the individual/interpersonal behavior level. Implementation will take place in Robbinsville Middle School.

The partners for this AVOID curriculum include:

AVOID was held again in the middle school during the fall to address the dangers of vaping to 6th, 7th, and 8th graders. This program has received a lot of positive reviews from students and school staff. We plan to continue this program in 2023 with the same age group of school students. 

Unfortunately, AVOID was not able to be taught during the spring or fall due to staffing. The Health Educator was moved into the Lab Manager role when the Lab Manager retired. Therefore, Health Education did not have anyone available to teach this curiculum. We briefly had a Health Educator, part-time, from September to November 2023 and then full-time November 2023 through the beginning of February 2024. We hope to get this program back up and running as soon as a the Health Educator role is filled.