-
Maximilian Martin presented the 24/7 campaign before the GCCS School Board to stimulate the revision of the current tobacco policies at schools in the district. Courtesy Photo
GRANTS, N.M. - At the School Board Meeting on November 15, one of the presentations before the School Board was done by Maximilian Martin, a member of Evolvement New Mexico. This is a youth-led movement that is funded by the Tobacco Use Prevention and Control Program at the New Mexico Department of Health. The objective of this movement is to decrease the harmful effects of tobacco and vape products. The campaign that he came to present is called 24/7. This campaign is aimed at helping schools change their policies to make campuses tobacco product free 24 hours a day, seven days a week. This change would properly prohibit the possession and distribution of these products at all times on school campuses.
According to Martin, they have made a lot of progress becoming tobacco free at Grants High School. He stated that last year he advocated for 24/7 among his peers by giving surveys on what they knew about existing school policies, as well as providing information on what 24/7 aims to accomplish.
Martin praised Grants Cibola County Schools for their commitment to keeping students, staff, and visitors healthy. He asked the School Board to help strengthen that commitment by adopting the campaign's comprehensive tobacco-free policies he had brought before them. The new policy would close out any loopholes related to these products in the existing policy. This includes building a communication plan to inform staff, students, and visitors about this policy, adding signage around the schools to promote this change, and informing students and staff that the district will provide referrals to cessation resources to help them overcome tobacco addiction.
The School Board was provided with a model of the policy to look over and work from if they go through with a policy change. There are currently 16 school districts in New Mexico following this movement. If the GCCS School Board goes through with the Approval, they will be the 17th. The policy will have to be put through their policy adopting process and may be brought up over the next few meetings for reading before the approval can be decided.