Braintree Elementary Students With VKAT March to State House

Daniel Auszura, Kathryn Hirak and Kelsey Norton, students from the Braintree Elementary School Vermont Kids Against Tobacco (VKAT) group, joined 51 VKAT groups from all over the state, to participate in the bi-annual State House Rally in Montpelier January 27.

The event celebrates youth empowerment and the success throughout 2009 of VKAT programs in reaching more than 21,000 Vermonters with tobacco prevention and education activities.

Thousands of youth have taken part in VKAT since it began in 1995 and Braintree Elementary has had an active group since 2009. These efforts have resulted in consistently lower smoking prevalence rates at schools, with a decline in the smoking rates happening more quickly and earlier in schools with a VKAT presence.

VKAT is a statewide initiative for students in fifth grade through eighth grade, and has grown from 10 to 51 schools over the past 15 years. Participants in VKAT, with help from guidance counselors, student assistance professionals (SAPs), teachers, school nurses and community organizations have worked together to help decrease smoking rates among Vermont’s youth. According to the Health Department’s 2009 Vermont Youth Risk Behavior Survey, 7% of eighth graders smoked one or more cigarettes during the past 30 days. Overall, smoking rates for Vermont youth have been cut in half during the past decade.

After the group marched down Main Street to the State House, VKAT members met in the same room in which House of Representatives legislators meet. They listened to a brief presentation by Chittenden Representative Bill Frank and Rebecca Ryan, director of Health Communications & Policy for the American Lung Association.

The Braintree students also learned a bit of State House history during a tour of the facility conducted by Representative Patsy French.

For more information about VKAT, go to www.goVKAT.org.