LAKELAND, Fla. (Oct. 20, 2008) —Florida Southern College Healthy Campus Coalition students Braden Bradford, Ketia Harris, Seth Paul and Welty Spears, along with Cathy Robinson Pickett, Healthy Campus coordinator, have been chosen to present at the 2008 National General Assembly of Bacchus Gamma in Columbus, Ohio on Nov. 13.

The students, all sophomores, will present a “Best Practice Program” featuring their TAP (tobacco awareness program) outreach to middle school students. The program was chosen because of the students’ creative and interactive approach to reaching the younger student population. Bradford has created a MySpace page geared to middle schools with tobacco information as well as a Facebook page with tobacco facts and forums for college students and peer educators. Bradford is a business major from Plant City, Fla.; Harris is an art major from Miami; Paul, from Milwaukee, and Spears, from Orlando, are majoring in nursing.

Last year the HCC team reached more than 700 students in the Polk County area. This year the peer educators have set a goal of teaching 1000 students. They also have been invited to Sumter County schools where they will be presenting in November. According to Pickett, all these efforts have been made possible due to a tobacco awareness grant from the Central Florida Area Health Education Center. The students received a $10,000 grant last year, and this year FSC received two separate $12,000 grants, one for HCC and one for the nursing program. Pickett says, “It is an exciting time for our programs, a chance to really make a difference in our community with young minds, and now a chance to spread the word to other college campuses in the hope that they will in turn spread the word in their communities.”