CELEBRATE A DRUG FREE LIFE

Red Ribbon Week is an ideal way for people and communities to unite and take a visible stand against drugs. This week OAA Mustang's displayed our personal commitment to a drug-free lifestyle through the symbol of the ribbon, October 23-31st.

The Red Ribbon Campaign was started when drug traffickers in Mexico City murdered DEA agent Kiki Camarena in 1985. This began the continuing tradition of displaying Red Ribbons as a symbol of intolerance towards the use of drugs. The mission of the Red Ribbon Campaign is to present a unified and visible commitment towards the creation of a DRUG - FREE AMERICA.

This year's theme, Celebrate Life. Live Drug Free. Was created by Emily King, Chelsea Abbott, and Celise Wicker, 7th graders at Wayland-Cohocton Middle School in Wayland, New York. The theme is a reminder that everyday Americans across the country make significant daily contributions to their communities by being the best they can be because they live Drug-Free!

Kudos to our K-12 Mustangs! High school students decorated their lockers with art work, middle school students made posters and a special shout out to OAA HandS for decorating K-6 classroom doors promoting this years theme.

We are also grateful for Huntsville Police coming to share with students the role the police K-9 plays. They are specially bred service dogs who undergo extensive training, enabling them to assist their human partners with a variety of important tasks. Common duties include suspect tracking and apprehension, narcotic and explosive detection, and search and rescue.

For the safety of you, your child(ren), the OAA volunteers, safety patrols and staff, please be reminded of the following:

GENERAL RULES:

• Children should enter and exit the vehicle from the right side only.

• Only allow your child to exit your car on the sidewalk.

• Drive slowly while on campus, especially during drop-off/pick-up.

• All cars move together "One Band, One Sound" [this is for the safety of your child(ren) + all children of Oakwood Adventist Academy]

MORNING SPECIFIC RULES:

• Drop-off begins at 7:30 a.m. and ends at 7:55 a.m. Students may not enter the building until 7:30 a.m. Oakwood Adventist Academy is not responsible for their safety before that time. Please do not leave them unaccompanied outside of the school building.

• Safety patrols are here to assist your children out of the car and to class. If you need to speak to a teacher, please schedule a conference.

• If you are not at the drop-off zone in front of the school, your children should not exit.

• Children should be ready to exit the vehicle when they arrive at the drop-off zone. Please don’t wait to put sneakers on and collect your school supplies when you pull up to the drop-off zone.

• Do not begin to pull away from the car line until all children are safely on the other side of the barrier.

• If the 8:00 a.m. bell rings, your child is tardy and you MUST sign them in at the front desk.

AFTERNOON SPECIFIC RULES:

• K-8 ||| Pick-up begins at 3:15 p.m. and ends at 3:45 p.m., M-TH AND begins at 2:15 p.m. and ends at 2:45 p.m. on Friday

• 9-12 ||| Pick-up begins at 3:30 p.m. and ends at 4:00 p.m., M-TH AND begins at 2:30 p.m. and ends at 3:00 p.m. on Friday

• OAA car tags are preferred to be hanging from the rear view mirror. Bare minimum they must be placed on the left hand side of the dashboard.

• Students may NOT walk to the parking lot at any time unless accompanied by an OAA staff member.

• Please refrain from talking with the teachers during pick-up, as this distracts them from ensuring the safety of all children.

AFTERNOON SPECIFIC PROCESS:

• Cars arrive and we group names based on arrival for calling students to line up for dismissal.

• Cars make their way to the front of the building (8 cars at a time)

• Students are dismissed to their car based on how they were grouped.

• Once the sidewalk is clear and all students are loaded, the group at the sidewalk departs so that the next group of 8 cars can arrive to the front of the building.

***Please do NOT drive around pass the old high school building/the Anna Knight building to cut the line. When you cut the line, it prolongs the car line process for everyone as the names and numbers get thrown off.***

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