Scholarship winners announced

Health and Community Services Minister Roger Grimes today announced the winners of the Class of 2000 Smoking Prevention Scholarship. In total, 12 students, two from each Health and Community Services region, will each receive a $500 scholarship to assist with their post-secondary education.

Minister Grimes said: "It is important for young people in Newfoundland and Labrador to understand the risks of smoking and the benefits of being smoke-free. Each of today�s scholarship recipients has pledged to be smoke-free and has personally acknowledged the benefits, especially the health benefits, of their decision."

To be eligible for a scholarship, applicants had to be non-smokers; write a 250-word essay on the benefits of being smoke-free, and renew a Smoke-Free pledge. These students also had to be members of the graduating class of 2000 and pursue a post-secondary education. Students who smoked were also eligible to apply for the scholarships if they quit their tobacco use by March 20, 2000.

"In 1990, the Department of Education partnered with the Department of Health and Community Services in launching the Class of 2000 Smoking Prevention Program," said Beaton Tulk, the (Acting) Minister of Education. "I am pleased to see this worthy program come to a close with the awarding of scholarships to students who promote the important message of being smoke-free."

The Class of 2000 Smoking Prevention Program was launched with grade two students in this province in May 1990. Approximately 9,200 students participated in the program, which aimed at promoting a smoke-free generation by the year 2000. As students progressed through the school system, new activities reinforcing the smoke-free message were introduced into the school curriculum.

Today�s announcement is timely as just last week the Alliance for the Control of Tobacco (ACT) launched the Smoking Sucks anti-smoking education campaign aimed towards the province�s youth. The scholarship program also complements the work of the Teen Tobacco Team (TTT) and the goals of the Provincial Tobacco Reduction Strategy which are aimed at prevention, protection, cessation, and denormalization of smoking. It also complements the pilot teen smoking cessation project, "Kick the Nic," which has been introduced in communities throughout the province.

To view a photo of the event click on link below

Photo: Winners of the Class of 2000 Smoking Prevention scholarships

Media contact:

Carl Cooper, Health and Community Services, (709) 729-1377
Andrea Maunder, Education, (709) 729-0048.

2000 09 28  12:05 p.m.