School Programs
Reaching students on campus through educational events
Red Ribbon Week
Red Ribbon Week is a week-long initiative in October to bring awareness to the devastating impacts of drugs, alcohol, and vaping. The week’s activities may include spirit days, daily announcements by the principal, a drug-free pledge opportunity, an educational video for the students about the history of the program, Plant the Promise tulip planting, door decorating contest, daily raffle drawings, and culminating in an Educational Health Fair for all students, parents, grandparents, and guardians.
Poster Contest
The 2023 poster contest was open to all Fountain Hills Middle School students. The theme for Grades 4 and 5 was “Leading the Way: Be Respectful, Responsible, Safe, and Kind.” Students are to choose one of those words and show visually what it means to them in a poster format. The theme for Grades 6, 7, and 8 was “Leading the Way, Above the Influence” and students are to show visually as a poster what that means to them. The goal of the contest is to bring awareness to the students around ways they can live a drug and alcohol-free life. There were prizes for the first, second, and third place winners of each grade.
PROMise
The Falcon PROMise Awareness Initiative and Fundraiser is a collaboration between the Fountain Hills Protect Our Youth Coalition and the Fountain Hills High School Student Government with the goal of connecting with students and parents about the social pressures surrounding Prom and graduation and committing to making positive, healthy choices.
Annual Essay Contest
Every year, the Fountain Hills Coalition sponsors a community-wide essay contest for all high school students. We work closely with all four English teachers at Fountain Hills High School who decide upon the three questions for the students to answer. The students then choose one question to formulate their essay. Judging of the essays takes place the first week of February. Winners and their parents are invited to an awards luncheon in March where first, second, and third place essays receive a cash prize and fourteen honorable mention essays are recognized. Congratulations to our 2023 award recipients!
Speaker Series
The coalition organizes ongoing guest speakers at the high school to engage teens on issues impacting them. For example, Cari Fonseca visited the Fountain Hills High School for two speaking engagements in 2022. Cari is the mother to Brandon, who at 21 years of age back in 2001, chose to drive drunk with 2 friends in the car. Brandon suffered a severe traumatic brain injury from the motor vehicle crash he was in while his best friend was killed instantly. Brandon passed years later from complications surrounding his injuries. Her story is presented from the offender’s point of view while sharing photos and actual footage of the accident, interviews conducted, and Brandon’s life after the accident. Cari spoke to the 10th and 11th graders at the Fountain Hills High School the week before homecoming and returned the following week to share Brandon’s story with the 9th graders.
