Winona Area Public Schools
From left to right, Brandon Scott, Winona County ASAP program coordinator Gabrielle Mark, Nicole Miller, Cooper Hancock, Colton Beier.
Four Winona Senior High School students were recognized Monday for their work on a marketing campaign for Winona County ASAP on the dangers of vaping.
Brandon Scott, Nicole Miller, Cooper Hancock and Colton Beier were honored during Winona County ASAP’s year-end celebration at Nate & Ally’s Frozen Treat Creations. The four students, members of the Tech Nest at the high school, created a series of anti-vaping commercials, one of which is shown at the Winona 7 movie theater and can be seen on the Winona County ASAP Facebook page.
The Tech Nest is a student group that helps the WSHS community with technology issues. It also live streams Winona Area Public Schools athletic events, music concerts, public meetings and more in addition to producing other video and audio projects, such as the Hawk Now web series.
Winona County Alliance for Substance Abuse Prevention (ASAP) is a coalition of community members devoted to cultivating a drug-free culture for children and teens in the Winona area. E-cigarette use, also know as vaping or JUULing, has become a top priority for the group. Teen vaping has increased 50% in Minnesota since 2014, and in Winona County 16.7% of 11th graders used e-cigarettes in the past month.