It is a rare opportunity to be part of a process that has all the components to make a change. The funding for the Center for Tobacco Prevention became available after Mississippi Attorney General Mike Moore assisted Florida in a tobacco lawsuit. All the money the state received in the Florida settlement was earmarked for prevention. For their part, Carver and the Center for Tobacco Prevention plan to go right into the state's classrooms. The center is developing learning activities to go with existing classroom programs for students in kindergarten through the third grade.
Training begins next month for classroom teachers.
For students in the fourth through seventh grades, the center will be working to develop peer teams to work on anti-tobacco activities. In addition, the center will work with the Community Youth Partnerships to develop programmatic activities to bolster the anti-tobacco message. Carver said other states will be watching to see how the Mississippi program fares over the course of the next two years. She said she is expecting big things. Or something that so much is required of to make a difference.