Oakwood Elementary School 4th grader Lucy Morgan of Gainesville, Holsenbeck Elementary School 5th grader Lynda Mae Peppers of Winder, and Breyona Crowell of Heritage Elementary School in Macon were recognized in 2023 for their outstanding poster submissions to the Tar Wars tobacco and vaping prevention program 2023 statewide poster contest. The top three statewide Tar Wars poster winners for the 2023 school year are:

1st- Lucy Morgan ~ Oakwood Elementary ~ Gainesville

2nd- Lynda Mae Peppers ~ Holsenbeck Elementary ~ Winder

3rd- Breyona Crowell ~ Heritage Elementary ~ Macon

The Tar Wars program utilizes innovative and interactive classroom activities to educate Georgia youth about the short-term consequences of tobacco use, new and emerging tobacco products like vapes/e-cigarettes, the cost associated with using tobacco products, and the advertising techniques used by the tobacco industry to market their products to youth. The lesson consists of two components: a one-hour classroom presentation and a follow-up poster contest. Data revealed significant knowledge gains in all areas by students including:

• 87% of students reported learning something new from Tar Wars
• 93% of students responded people who smoke are not healthy and fit (in the post-test)
• 33% more students said advertisers are not telling the truth about tobacco use (from the pretest to the post-test)
• 28% more students said that vapes are not safer than regular cigarettes (from the pre-test to the post-test)

Tar Wars was created by the American Academy of Family Physicians in 1988 and since that time the program has reached more than 10 million students in 17 countries and has prevented countless children from using tobacco in any form. In Georgia, Tar Wars is sponsored by the Georgia Academy of Family Physicians (GAFP). More information on the Tar Wars program can be found at https://www.aafp.org/family-physician/patient-care/care-resources/tobacco-and-nicotine/tar-wars.html and https://georgiahealthyfamilyalliance.org/tarwars.