Southeast - Region

SE

Counties in the Southeast Region Include:

Bledsoe, Bradley, Franklin, Grundy, McMinn, Marion, Meigs, Polk, Rhea, Sequatchie

Tennessee Teens in Action


Tobacco is no longer accepted as a social norm; Tennessee teens are educating their peers and influencing younger youth on the dangers of tobacco. 

Bradley County Youth Tobacco Prevention Tennessee Teens Talk Tobacco 

Three High Schools have T-4 peer groups – Bradley County High School, Cleveland High School, Walker Valley High School.   

One Middle School has a T-4 group – Ocoee Middle School.     

Over 20 students trained in T-4, and due to students graduating, new T-4 training begins this year for the 2019-202 school year.  

Eight adult sponsors involved  

Tobacco Awareness was the focus for the Tennessee Teens Talk Tobacco Groups in the 2018-2019 school year. They were also involved in the GASO, and It's Quittin Time in Tennessee. They promote tobacco prevention by hanging posters and signs in the student bathrooms and cafeteria. Cleveland High Schools T-4 group also developed a commercial for the HOSA’s contest. 

2019

T4 Students in Marion County

Marion County T4 Group

T4 students in Marion County have been very active in participating in tobacco events throughout the 2018-2019 school year.

  • For TN Quit Week, T4 students went to the middle schools and hung up “#32” posters. Unbeknownst to the middle school students, this is the number of Tennesseans who die each day due to tobacco-related illnesses. This display was the precursor to the vaping/tobacco presentations they would be giving later in the week and where they revealed what this number meant. The health educator gave a PowerPoint presentation on vaping. After, the students were split into groups and rotated around the lecture hall to different stations with visual aids manned by the T4 students and Coordinated School Health. 
  • For Kick Butts Day in March, they hosted a Breathe Easy Track Meet at two of the middle schools in Marion County. T4 students crewed the anti-tobacco stations. One of the favorite stations was “Crush ‘Big Tobacco.” Where there were stand-alone sign holders with tobacco ads posted to them; students threw balls at the signs in hopes of knocking them over. 
  • Towards the end of the school year, the Marion County Health Department hosted a Healthy Horizons event for 4th graders which focused on physical activity, nutrition, and tobacco education. T4 students volunteered their time at this event in leading and directing participants to stations and encouraging them to participate in different activities. 
  • During the summer, T4 students attended the TN Strong Summit, which ignited a fire in them to make great strides on vaping policies in their schools. After the summit, they met together and created a PowerPoint presentation to present to the school board on the effects of vaping as well as policy changes they’d like to have implemented in the district. They are presenting at the October school board meeting.

2019