This year, 52 students at Emerson Street School participated in the American Lung Association’s Not-On-Tobacco (N-O-T) quit smoking program and 42 of them completed it.

The program was offered during lunch on Tuesday and Thursday for each session of five sessions. While students initially came for the food, said teacher Laura Hays, they ended up staying for the information.

“Of all of the students that completed, none of them said the information was bogus,” said Hays. “All of them reported learning something new, and nearly all have reported intentions to be smoke-free for life. In addition to being smoke-free, students learned about goal-setting, stress management, nutrition and exercise.”

Hays commended her students for making a “courageous decision.”

Emerson Street School, which serves students who have been expelled, recently was given an award for its participation in N-O-T.

Studies of 12,000 teens participating in the N-O-T program found that approximately 90 percent of the teens enrolled in the N-O-T program either quit or cut back smoking. That compares with 55 percent of those who received a brief intervention consisting of advice and self-help brochures.

N-O-T was designed and tested specifically for teens. N-O-T helps high school students to:

• Stop smoking or reduce the number of cigarettes smoked
• Increase healthy lifestyle behaviors
• Improve life management skills

For more information, contact Sarah Ellis at 303-388-4327.