4 NHS Reality Check youths to meet with lawmakers in Albany on Tuesday
NORWICH – On Monday, four Norwich High School Reality Check students will travel to the state's capital to meet with lawmakers and discuss their efforts to reduce tobacco usage and advertisements in Chenango County.
NHS juniors Kristina Lamphere, Morgan Burdick, Steven King, and freshman Maddi Lamphere will stay the night in Albany on Monday before they meet with local elected officials Assemblyman Clifford Crouch and Assemblyman Gary Finch on Legislative Day in the Capitol Building on Tuesday.
"[Reality Check] is about trying to get the community to cut back on tobacco products and advertising for tobacco products," said Kristina Lamphere.
Since the beginning of the school year, NHS Reality Check youth have been organizing initiatives aimed at helping to achieve their goal of cutting back tobacco use in the area. On Tuesday, the students will discuss their progress with Assemblymen Crouch and Finch to help ensure funding for the local Bureau of Tobacco Control continues.
One Reality Check initiative students orchestrated was the flagging of cigarette butts in Kiwanis Park in Norwich to compare how well the city's voluntary tobacco prohibition in the parks has worked a year after its implementation. Kristina said she was pleasantly surprised to find only a third of the amount of cigarette butts in the park in November 2017 as it had the year prior.
In addition to meeting with the assemblymen, Coordinator of Tobacco-Free Chenango Rose Walsh said the Reality Check youth will have tables set up in the Capitol Building explaining some their initiatives, as well as a social media table, and a 'popcorn table.'
"It's a table where we'll stand and hand out popcorn to people in the Capitol Building," said Maddi. Walsh added that there is a superhero theme for Legislative Day, and that the four students, herself, and fellow NHS Reality Check Coordinator Rhett Genung will be wearing matching red Reality Check shirts.
Walsh said, "We must be doing something right because the smoking rates are down in this county," adding that from 2015 to 2016, the rate of prevalent smokers aged 18 to 24 has dropped from 14 percent to 11.7 percent, according to the New York State Department of Health.
Walsh also noted that Chenango County is among the lowest counties in the state in overall smoking rate, as the NYS Department of Health deems Chenango County in the lowest two quartile percentages of current smokers, with an estimated percent of 18.9 current smokers.
Surrounding counties Broome and Cortland had an estimated percentage of 22.3 and 21.4, respectively. The highest percentage of current smokers in the state is Cayuga County with a 30.6 percentage of current smokers.
The trip is at no cost to the students, said Walsh, thanks to funding from the Bureau of Tobacco Control.
Pictured: (L-R) Reality Check members Kristina Lamphere, Morgan Burdick, Maddi Lamphere, and Steven King will meet with lawmakers in Albany on Tuesday to discuss their initiatives to reduce tobacco use in Chenango County. (Submitted photo)
NHS juniors Kristina Lamphere, Morgan Burdick, Steven King, and freshman Maddi Lamphere will stay the night in Albany on Monday before they meet with local elected officials Assemblyman Clifford Crouch and Assemblyman Gary Finch on Legislative Day in the Capitol Building on Tuesday.
"[Reality Check] is about trying to get the community to cut back on tobacco products and advertising for tobacco products," said Kristina Lamphere.
Since the beginning of the school year, NHS Reality Check youth have been organizing initiatives aimed at helping to achieve their goal of cutting back tobacco use in the area. On Tuesday, the students will discuss their progress with Assemblymen Crouch and Finch to help ensure funding for the local Bureau of Tobacco Control continues.
One Reality Check initiative students orchestrated was the flagging of cigarette butts in Kiwanis Park in Norwich to compare how well the city's voluntary tobacco prohibition in the parks has worked a year after its implementation. Kristina said she was pleasantly surprised to find only a third of the amount of cigarette butts in the park in November 2017 as it had the year prior.
In addition to meeting with the assemblymen, Coordinator of Tobacco-Free Chenango Rose Walsh said the Reality Check youth will have tables set up in the Capitol Building explaining some their initiatives, as well as a social media table, and a 'popcorn table.'
"It's a table where we'll stand and hand out popcorn to people in the Capitol Building," said Maddi. Walsh added that there is a superhero theme for Legislative Day, and that the four students, herself, and fellow NHS Reality Check Coordinator Rhett Genung will be wearing matching red Reality Check shirts.
Walsh said, "We must be doing something right because the smoking rates are down in this county," adding that from 2015 to 2016, the rate of prevalent smokers aged 18 to 24 has dropped from 14 percent to 11.7 percent, according to the New York State Department of Health.
Walsh also noted that Chenango County is among the lowest counties in the state in overall smoking rate, as the NYS Department of Health deems Chenango County in the lowest two quartile percentages of current smokers, with an estimated percent of 18.9 current smokers.
Surrounding counties Broome and Cortland had an estimated percentage of 22.3 and 21.4, respectively. The highest percentage of current smokers in the state is Cayuga County with a 30.6 percentage of current smokers.
The trip is at no cost to the students, said Walsh, thanks to funding from the Bureau of Tobacco Control.
Pictured: (L-R) Reality Check members Kristina Lamphere, Morgan Burdick, Maddi Lamphere, and Steven King will meet with lawmakers in Albany on Tuesday to discuss their initiatives to reduce tobacco use in Chenango County. (Submitted photo)
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