Hartselle City Schools are celebrating Red Ribbon Week this week to promote a drug-free lifestyle with the theme “United Against Drugs and Bullying.”

Hartselle High School Resource Officer Michael Hudson led the kickoff Red Ribbon pep rally Monday morning at HHS. All grades from Barkley Bridge Elementary, Crestline Elementary, Burleson Elementary and Hartselle Intermediate School attended the drug-free pep rally.

All the HHS Students Against Drunk Driving members, band members and cheerleaders led the students in Hartselle cheers modified to have a drug-free and no-bullying message. Officer Hudson reminded students of the reason for Red Ribbon Week and the story of Enrique Camarena, a 37-year-old Drug Enforcement Administration Agent who was tortured and killed in Mexico by a drug cartel in 1985. HHS male and female athletes were able to speak to the students about saying no to drugs.

This is the second year HHS has hosted the drug-free pep rally in the gym. Before, a number of SADD students were chosen to participate in pep rallies at each elementary school over one school day. Officer Hudson said this new method of combining all the schools into one pep rally has worked very well.

“This different structure has really been helpful so far,” Hudson said. “All of the SADD students get to go, which has helped with SADD membership. We went from an average of 120 students to now we have over 200 this year. The new format also lets all the schools get equal treatment. When we would travel to each school, the last pep rally was always much better than the first.”

The Red Ribbon pep rally is only the beginning of the drug-free celebration. Each elementary school will have daily drawings for drug-free prizes, and HJHS and HHS will each have a drawing for a $25 gift card at the end of the week.