Students Create TV Ad on Smoking Dangers

MOUNDSVILLE – Students from John Marshall High School’s video editing class have produced a public service announcement for the Marshall County Family Resource Network that is aimed at teaching 11- to 18-year-olds about the dangers of smoking.

The PSA, entitled “Don’t Let Your Life Go Up in Smoke,” will run on local TV stations this spring. The TV spots are funded by a grant to the Marshall County Family Resource Network from the American Lung Association.

The John Marshall students designed and produced the PSA. The 30-second PSA depicts a young girl whose close family members and other adults smoke but, upon seeing the health effects smoking has had on them, chooses not to light up. The video editing class includes Alexa Perko, Alexa Ramsey, Keara Vickers, Angela Semple, Darby Kale and Gloria Rupert. The class is taught by Tony Wood.

Madisyn Magers appears in the PSA as the young girl whose family members and other adults around her smoke. An accompanying radio commercial, which will air on local stations, was written by FRN community outreach coordinator Mike Drosieko. It too was produced by the video editing class.

The 30-second PSA is scheduled to run during Fox Ohio Valley’s upcoming episodes of “American Idol” as well as Fox’s telecasts of NASCAR races in Martinsville, Texas and Talladega. It will also appear during Fox Sunday’s primetime animated programming and the early evening episodes of “Family Guy” and “Two and a Half Men” on weeknights. The schedule was selected due to the high number of 11- to 18-year-old Marshall County residents who would be watching the programs.

The Marshall County Family Resource Network is a not-for-profit organization that builds community partnerships to make Marshall County a better place to live and work. The FRN’s key efforts focus on substance abuse prevention, health and wellness and community development. It has leveraged more than $2.2 million in state and federal grants for Marshall County over the past three years. The FRN can be reached at 304-845-3300 or on the Web at www.marshallcountyfrn.com.