Helicopters on campus, anti-drug pledges, red-dressing means it's Red Ribbon Week

Red Ribbon Week, the annual national drug awareness program that allows our schools to rally around anti-tobacco and drug awareness messages, continues through Oct. 31 at many San Diego Unified schools.

Schools are celebrating the event in a variety of ways. Here are some examples.

• Hearst Elementary School in Del Cerro welcomed officers from the San Diego Police Department to school, along with the command unit and visitors from the San Diego County Department of Animal Services. Watch video»
• Cubberley Elementary in Serra Mesa created a very visual sign to the community of the school's drug-free attitude, as students created the letters for "drug free" by stuffing red cups in the school's perimeter fence.
• Red was the order of the day on Oct. 21 at the City Heights campus of Rosa Parks Elementary School. Students assembled on the school's playground and all took a drug-free pledge.

The National Family Partnership organized the first Nationwide Red Ribbon Campaign. NFP provides drug awareness by sponsoring the annual National Red Ribbon Celebration. Since its beginning in 1985, the Red Ribbon has touched the lives of millions of people around the world. In response to the murder of DEA Agent Enrique Camarena, angered parents and youth in communities across the country began wearing Red Ribbons as a symbol of their commitment to raise awareness of the killing and destruction cause by drugs in America.