Tim Leeds Havre Daily News tleeds@havredailynews.com
The students at St. Jude Thaddeus School heard a message from the Montana National Guard Wednesday: Be healthy and avoid drugs. Members of the National Guard Drug Demand Reduction Program presented information tailored to the ages of the students in four presentations at St. Jude after flying into Havre on a National Guard helicopter. The program, presented by Master Sgt. Kathryn Gilding and Staff Sgt. Beau Snellmen, was split into four presentations. The first, “Bee Like Me,” presented to kindergarten and first-graders, used a workbook to teach children to live healthy lifestyles, including respecting their bodies and not using drugs. Second- and third-graders participated in “Healthy Bodies, Healthy Minds,” also using a workbook. The program shows children how to live healthy lives inlcuding eating well, staying physically fit and not using drugs. For fourth- and fifth-graders, Gilding and Snellmen also used a workbook in the presentation of “Take a Stand,” urging youngsters to stand up against peer pressure, bullying and the use of drugs. The older students, in sixth through eighth grade, watched a PowerPoint presentation Showing dangers of methamphetamine and the harm its production and use can do to people’s family, friends, peers and community. The program, in which schools and organizations can choose from a list of programs available including the four used at St. Judes, is provided free of charge by the National Guard. For more information, call Gilding at (406) 324-3176.
