Tobacco Prevention Youth Summit Set for Oct. 7
Annual Bismarck Tobacco Prevention Youth Summit will be held Wed., Oct. 7, from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at the Ramkota Inn, Heart Room, 800 South 3rd Street, Bismarck.
The Youth Summit is organized by Bismarck-Burleigh Public Health to educate students about youth tobacco prevention activities, youth empowerment, and changing social norms.
“Young people are an important factor in helping North Dakota provide smoke-free workplaces for all employees,” said Susan Kahler, community outreach coordinator for Bismarck-Burleigh Public Health. North Dakota’s Comprehensive State Plan to Prevent and Reduce Tobacco Use sets a June 2013 goal of having 100 percent of all public places and work places smoke-free.
At 11:30 a.m., Youth Summit keynote speaker Andy Berndt will discuss Minnesota’s successful implementation of a comprehensive statewide smoke-free law. Berndt is the program director of Catalyst, a Minnesota youth advocacy program. His remarks will focus on how youth can educate their peers and others about the need for 100 percent smoke-free worksites.
All Bismarck public high schools including St. Mary?s High School, all Bismarck public middle schools, and St. Mary’s 7th and 8th grade students will send student representatives and a faculty tobacco prevention coordinator to the Youth Summit.
In the weeks and months following the summit, attending students will work with their school’s tobacco prevention coordinator to create activities for the Great American Smoke Out (Nov. 19), Great American Spit Out (Feb. 18, 2010), and Kick Butts Day (March 24, 2010).
