With funding from the Minnesota Department of Health, ANSR created a new ‘Tools for Schools’ toolkit to help school staff prevent commercial tobacco and nicotine use among students. It contains a wealth of evidence-based prevention strategies for schools and includes:
- tools for youth education, engagement, and advocacy;
- lesson plans from ANSR’s Tobacco 101 curriculum;
- lists of support programs and treatment options;
- guidance on support over suspension measures; and
- factsheets about flavored commercial tobacco products and e-cigarettes.
The toolkit also highlights assistance that ANSR can provide directly. This includes (but is not limited to): newsletter drop-ins, social media posts, model school tobacco- and smoke-free policies, and staff and student presentations. The ANSR team is more than happy to assist school staff in implementing or sharing the information found in the toolkit more broadly.
“There is so much out there, with staff feeling overwhelmed with daily life in school and wanting to effectively address concerns using best practices,” said Katie Engman, program director at ANSR. “We heard from school staff that they wanted something boiled down, simple and easy to understand. We hope this tool will help.”
ANSR invites its colleagues and school partners to use this resource in their work. Download the toolkit on the ANSR website, and contact Molly Schmidtke, molly@ansrmn.org, or Katie Engman, katie@ansrmn.org, with any questions.