Joachim Over (left) and Bryan Ludwig (right) were students at St. Andrew’s School in Boca Raton (class of 2002) when they appeared in our SPOTLIGHT.

Joachim and Bryan are involved in a community service project known as “Students Teach Students — A Smoking Prevention Program.” This program was created by the American Lung Association of Southeast Florida.

Along with other students from Saint Andrews School, Bryan and Joachim teach lower school students about the dangers of smoking and using tobacco products. They furthered their involvement in the community by bringing this program to day camps in the Palm Beach County area.

A typical presentation involves two trained high school students who present the STS program to children aged 10 – 12. “We have taught groups ranging in size from 15 – 120 students,” says Bryan. A typical presentation includes using visual aids as well as having students participate in group activities. “Students particularly enjoy ‘Smoking Sam,’ a puppet that ‘smokes’ a cigarette and displays the amount of tar given off,” explains Bryan.

“We enjoy being involved in the STS program because we get to have a hands-on involvement with younger children. We hope that our teaching will cause someone to think twice before using any tobacco products,” Joachim explains. “We especially like teaching this because we know the students can better relate to us because of our age,” he adds. “They look to us as role models. Since we don’t smoke, they realize they don’t have to either.”