Students from district schools honored for county tobacco-prevention PSAs

Students from Benjamin Franklin, Fernando Rivera, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Thomas R. Pol( ) were recognized by the Jefferson School District Board of Trustees on Monday night for winning the county’s 2025 tobacco-use-prevention education (TUPE) public-service-announcement contest. The students presented poster, audio and video entries and received certificates from the board.

The presentations were introduced by Stephanie Martinez and included posters titled “Say No to Vaping,” song and short video entries that the students said were designed to inform peers about the health risks of tobacco and vaping and to share steps to quit. “It really shows, once you look at the lyrics, you can see the vision,” one student said after performing an audio entry. Board members praised the peer-to-peer approach as more effective than adult-led messaging.

District staff and county partners were singled out during remarks. Carla Rodriguez and others from the County Health Tobacco Education Coalition’s Youth Advisory Group supported the district program, and the board noted that winning entries would be featured on the county website. Trustees also encouraged students to share the work with their families and to keep the material available online.

The recognition included certificates read aloud for named students (for example, Shenya May Soraniano, Ethan Tan, Lily Beono, Zoe Backley and Anna Ariyaga Martinez) and brief comments from staff about the program’s history and impact. The board asked student groups to remain for the first part of the meeting and for superintendent comment.

The celebration followed standard board practice for special presentations and did not require board action beyond the formal recognition.