TOLEDO—Notre Dame Academy (NDA) has taken part in The Orange Event, also known as the Prom Raiders contest, a competition the Ohio Tobacco Prevention Foundation sponsors to spread the word about Stand and DEBUNKIFY, two anti-smoking groups working to educate teens about the realities of smoking.

Every high school in Ohio has been invited to decorate their school and student body in orange to spread the truth about tobacco. Once schools hold their “Orange Event,” they are to send pictures and videos of it to Prom Raiders, who are to determine winners based on creativity, student participation and use of tobacco messaging.

The top prize is an all-expense paid prom worth up to $30,000. Second prize is an award of $25,000.

NDA’s Orange Event committee planned an entire week devoted to orange-covered, tobacco-awareness related activities Nov. 5 through Nov. 9.

“We wanted to spread it out over a week to have a sort of Red Ribbon Week feel, but with orange,” says junior class president and head of the committee, Hannah Michalak.

Highlights included anti-smoking announcements and signs in the hallways; an Orange Lunch Day where orange-wearing lunch moms served orange food in the orange-decked dining hall; and a day students were invited to wear orange shirts, socks and shoes with their skirts.

Throughout the week T-shirts with “NDA Orange Event” on the fronts and “Anti-Involuntary Inhalation” on the backs were sold. Students heard statistics and facts relating to tobacco on the morning announcements and saw flyers and posters (orange, of course) hung up around school to inform and educate about the dangers of tobacco use.

NDA students and faculty say they may have a good chance of winning the competition. Hannah adds, “I really liked to see the liveliness and spirit of everyone, even if we don’t win.”