Students make posters with a message

Third graders in Warm Springs Intermediate School teacher Rosalie Betcher’s class were creating posters to persuade people not to use tobacco.

Learning about tobacco and its effects while studying about avoiding tobacco and alcohol was part of their Health and Fitness textbook curriculum.

Betcher told students to pick the most compelling reason they could think of to stay away from tobacco and to use it as their poster message. Students combined art and persuasive writing in the lesson. They had learned a lot about tobacco.

“Tobacco can give you mouth cancer,” Zachary Gasch said.

“Do not smoke because you can get addicted to it,” Emily Staebler said.
“Tobacco can kill you,” said Jackson Heath.

Kenny Hendershot noted that tobacco can kill your lung cells.

Isaac Hott said that tobacco causes 430,000 deaths each year.

Betcher said the textbook was an older book and that the deaths today from tobacco may be higher.
Their textbook talked about nicotine being used by farmers and gardeners as an insecticide. The book showed a photo of a man spraying nicotine as an insecticide. He wore goggles, gloves and a face mask as he worked to protect himself from its toxicity.