The City of Fall River’s Health Department and its partner agencies (Seven Hills Behavioral Health, the BOLD Coalition, the Fall River School Dept. and the Healthy City Initiative) are collaborating to train teens as ambassadors to reach families with young children in Fall River through daycare, pre-K and kindergarten classrooms. The first training session was held at Stanley Street Treatment & Resources (SSTAR) on November 7, 2008, with consultant Denise Jolicoeur, M.P.H., C.H.E.S., of the Center for Tobacco Treatment Research and Training at the University of Mass. Medical School Division of Preventive and Behavioral Medicine in Worcester. Students and adult leaders learned how to approach parents and successfully engage them in a conversation about the dangers of second-hand smoke to their children. The project provides health information about the health effects of second-hand smoke exposure; resources and support for tobacco use cessation; and a number of resources aimed at encouraging parents to establish and maintain the practice of ‘no smoking’ in their homes and cars. Activities include the design and creation of coloring books for small children with ‘no smoking’ messages; the creation of health information materials specific to parents of young children in Fall River; the distribution and promotion of educational materials by Teen Ambassadors in daycare settings, and by BCC students at pre-K and Kindergarten classes; and the distribution of education materials and resources by school nurses. For more information about the project, contact Karen Fischer at 508-324-3537 or Susan Dickens at Partners for Clean Air, 508-995-3026, X228.

(Top row, left and right) SSTAR Youth Director Mike Aguiar, Jasiel Correia II, Madison Khoury and Jeffrey Cabeceiras work as a team on a group exercise. (Top row, center) Consultant Denise Jolicoeur advises the team composed of Katie Tighe, Ross Dexter and Chris Parayno. (Middle row, left) Katie, Ross and Chris work to come up with responses to a quiz about second-hand smoke. (Middle row, center) BOLD Coalition Director Karen Fischer, Denise Jolicoeur, and BOLD staff member Susan Wolfson. (Middle row, right) Susan, Susan Dickens of Partners for Clean Air, Karen and Christine Santos work on a group exercise together. (Bottom row) Students respond to questions posed by Denise before practicing a conversation about second-hand smoke with an adult prior to talking to parents of pre-school children.