NEWBURYPORT, Mass. — A local high school is leading the way in educating teens on the dangers of vaping, and it's all thanks to a student's Girl Scout project.
Annemarie Noe launched the anti-vaping campaign in the school's bathroom where she noticed dozens of students vaping several times a day.
"Every day I'd come to school and I'd see my friends vape, and everyone vaping," said Noe.
Three years ago, Noe was a freshman, new to Newburyport High School and curious about a new trend called vaping.
"Once I realized how bad vaping was, I was like I need to tell people," she told us.
Noe decided to take on vaping as her Girl Scout project, she spent hours making signs, developing a website and creating a new vaping curriculum for her peers with the help of the school's wellness teacher.
"It is very new and there's not a lot of information out there," said wellness teacher Amy Heath.
The pair spent hours researching the dangers of vaping and passed on the lifesaving information to students.
"Instead of just doing a weeklong unit it’s now become weeks and kids doing projects on it and doing some of their own research as well," said Heath.
Now, three years later, bathrooms in the high school are filled with signs warning students of the dangers of vaping.
"I walked into the bathroom at school and saw a lot less people vaping, which made me really happy," said Noe.
But now, Noe is going beyond walls, working with Newburyport's mayor on an anti-vaping social media campaign.
"At the end of the day, I can't control your actions but I can make sure you have a solid foundation on what you're putting into your body," she said.
Noe says the next step is creating informational pamphlets to put in local doctor offices.
Cox Media Group
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