Taking a bite out of drug use

It wasn’t the match of the century, but it was fun to watch — Plains teacher Thom Chisholm facing his son across the foam arena of the inflatable jousting ring. When the referee reminded Chisholm not to hit his son in the head with the padded stick, Chisholm jokingly shouted, “I can do what I want! I own him!”

Chisholm managed to down his son in two quick rounds.

Jousting wasn’t the only event offered at Plains Red Ribbon Week celebrations which lasted all week long. Heather Phoenix, one of the organizers, said that the whole week was “just amazing.”

“That last afternoon, after everyone had been dismissed, I met three different high school students who said that this was the greatest one ever and they wanted to do it again this week,” she said. “It just went amazingly well.”

Phoenix said that the organizers finally hit a perfect combination with the amount of time in the classroom, on the playground, of instruction and just having plain unabashed fun.

“It gets difficult because we go K-12, so there are a lot of different levels that we need to cater to,” she said.

Phoenix said a lot of the reason that things went so well this years was the fact that they had exceptional help and a great leader in Betty Taylor.

“Some years you get people who say they’ll help but then kind of drop the ball,” she said. “That didn’t happen this year, we just had a combination of exceptional help. Betty did an amazing job of coordination.”

Phoenix, who used to be the drama instructor, said the whole week was “a lot like the screaming pinnacle of opening night.”

“It was just a lot of fun to put on and the kids loved it,” she said.

Red Ribbon Week lasted all last week, with a kickoff on Oct. 20. Students were told to wear any kind of boot they want and they got pencils with boot erasers. Some students also were able to go around town and paint red foot prints on sidewalks and parking lots to honor this year’s slogan, “Stomp out Drugs, Alcohol and Tobacco.”

On Tuesday high school students got bubble gum and they were encouraged to wear mismatched shoes. On Wednesday students were told to wear flip flops and the high school students got tootsie rolls. Also on Wednesday representatives from Camp Big Horn came to do a program on acceptable risks, which Phoenix said was a huge hit among both students and staff.

On Thursday high school students got small boxes of Nerds and everyone could wear bedroom slippers to school. Students in elementary school also got to whack at pi-atas shaped like boots and filled with candy during their recesses.

On Friday there was a barbecue, game stations and live music throughout the afternoon. Other events on Friday included a folf course, a tug-of-war, an inflatable obstacle course and “the flying squirrel” which allowed tethered students to soar up to the gym rafters.

Phoenix said that the closing on Friday was perfect. “We had an all-school balloon stomp, it was fun and it was the perfect closure to the week,” she said.

The school started the barbecue an hour earlier than it was originally on Friday so the football players didn’t have to miss it. The football team traveled to Hot Springs to attend the Hot Springs Homecoming.

“I want to say thanks to all the students and staff of PHS, because they made the day,” Phoenix said. “The staff was out there having as much fun as any kid I saw.”

Phoenix also said that she was very impressed with the students and how well-behaved they were throughout the whole week.

“I wish more of the townspeople could’ve made it out and see what was going on,” she said. “Young people sometimes get a bad rap and this would’ve been a great way for people to see how much fun and how great these kids are.”