Virginia Tobacco Settlement Foundation

NEWS RELEASE

For Immediate Release
Contact: Jeannette Coleman
804-225-3947
Danny Saggese
804-840-4259

AREA TEENS TRAINED TO SPREAD THE WORD
ON TOBACCO USE PREVENTION

Richmond, Virginia-By now, most teenagers are aware of the negative health effects of smoking cigarettes but what they may not know is that smoking could damage their social life. Hairy tongues, female facial hair and excess phlegm are all by-products of smoking which negatively impact a teen's social life. Taking that knowledge to the streets in the form of a youth lead movement is the basis for Y Street, an extension of the Y Campaign developed by the Virginia Tobacco Settlement Foundation (VTSF). In order to involve more teens in this movement, the campaign will hold its second round of Y Street trainings for local high school students on April 22 beginning at 5 PM at the O. Winston Link Museum in Roanoke.

These one day trainings are designed to activate and empower socially active high school students to promote the campaign and the smoking prevention message to their peers and to younger kids who look up to them.

"The idea is to train and motivate the most influential youth, so after the training they will share the information with their friends," said Danny Saggese, director of marketing for the Virginia Tobacco Settlement Foundation. "These students have the ability to reach out with the message in a way that adults can't."

Students must apply to be selected to attend the trainings. After being trained on street marketing, tobacco facts and the ydouthink campaign, teens have the option of continuing their involvement with Y Street by working with regional marketing managers to identify events and locations where the message can be spread. In addition, Y Street members have direct input into the creative direction of the campaign to make sure that the campaign continues to have a pulse on teen trends.

"Nationally, Y Street is unique because not only do the initially trained students learn the message but a lot of them choose to continue to work with the campaign to further that message," noted Saggese. "Typically, other states have had big youth rallies but carry forward momentum has been limited. We have that momentum and to me, that's confirmation that what we are doing is something that resonates with these youth and that will only help to further the message of youth tobacco prevention."

Last fall nearly 300 high school students participated in the initial trainings across the state. These trained Y Street members now have access to their own password-protected section of the Web site (www.ydouthink.com).

For more information on the Y Street trainings, the Y Campaign or VTSF, visit www.vtsf.org.

###





			NEWS RELEASE For Immediate Release Contact: Jeannette Coleman 804-225-3947 Danny Saggese 804-840-4259 AREA TEENS TRAINED TO SPREAD THE WORD ON TOBACCO USE PREVENTION Richmond, Virginia-By now, most teenagers are aware of the negative health effects of smoking cigarettes but what they may not know is that smoking could damage their social life. Hairy tongues, female facial hair and excess phlegm are all by-products of smoking which negatively impact a teen's social life. Taking that knowledge to the streets in the form of a youth lead movement is the basis for Y Street, an extension of the Y Campaign developed by the Virginia Tobacco Settlement Foundation (VTSF). In order to involve more teens in this movement, the campaign will hold its second round of Y Street trainings for local high school students on April 22 beginning at 5 PM at the O. Winston Link Museum in Roanoke. These one day trainings are designed to activate and empower socially active high school students to promote the campaign and the smoking prevention message to their peers and to younger kids who look up to them. "The idea is to train and motivate the most influential youth, so after the training they will share the information with their friends," said Danny Saggese, director of marketing for the Virginia Tobacco Settlement Foundation. "These students have the ability to reach out with the message in a way that adults can't." Students must apply to be selected to attend the trainings. After being trained on street marketing, tobacco facts and the ydouthink campaign, teens have the option of continuing their involvement with Y Street by working with regional marketing managers to identify events and locations where the message can be spread. In addition, Y Street members have direct input into the creative direction of the campaign to make sure that the campaign continues to have a pulse on teen trends. "Nationally, Y Street is unique because not only do the initially trained students learn the message but a lot of them choose to continue to work with the campaign to further that message," noted Saggese. "Typically, other states have had big youth rallies but carry forward momentum has been limited. We have that momentum and to me, that's confirmation that what we are doing is something that resonates with these youth and that will only help to further the message of youth tobacco prevention." Last fall nearly 300 high school students participated in the initial trainings across the state. These trained Y Street members now have access to their own password-protected section of the Web site (www.ydouthink.com). For more information on the Y Street trainings, the Y Campaign or VTSF, visit www.vtsf.org. ###