News and Events

Meet the Leaders of the Gilchrist County Students Working Against Tobacco (SWAT) Chapter!
December 7, 2017

We recently sat down and spoke with our chapter SWAT president, Hannah Turner, and our chapter vice president, Daica Putman to discuss Students Working Against Tobacco. Hannah and Daica are our Gilchrist County representatives to our state and regional SWAT meetings, and it is their responsibility to bring the regional and statewide initiatives back to Gilchrist so that they can help end tobacco use.

Hannah Turner

Q: How long have you been a SWAT member, and why did you join?
A: I have been a SWAT member for five years, since I was in 7th grade. I joined because both of my older siblings were involved in SWAT, and also because cigarette smoking is annoying to deal with in public places. Also, family members have already died of cancer and smoking causes cancer.

Q: What are the benefits of being a county representative at regional SWAT meetings?
A: It’s really interesting because I get to see what other people in other counties are doing in their SWAT programs, and I get to share what is happening in my own program. I also get ideas on what we can do in our own county.

 


From L to R:
Daica Putman and Hannah Turner

 

Q: What ideas or activities have you learned at a regional SWAT meeting that you would like to bring back to Gilchrist County?
A: The coolest activity was a team building activity that had us really rely on others. We had to help our team make our way through a course together.

Q: What would you like to accomplish in SWAT by the end of this school year?
A: I would like to recruit more members to keep peers from using tobacco. That way we can reach out to the whole community to keep people from getting cancer.

Q: Is there anything else you would like to add?
A: At the last regional SWAT meeting there was a theme of “What’s Your Why?”. Mine is to prevent people from getting cancer.


From L to R: Daica Putman and Hannah Turner


Daica Putman

Q: How long have you been a SWAT member, and why did you join?
A: I have been in SWAT for five years. I joined because 400,000 people die from tobacco use every year.

Q: What is it like to be a representative for Gilchrist SWAT and attend a regional SWAT meeting?
A: It’s a lot of fun. The meeting really teaches us what we should work on in our local SWAT club.

Q: What ideas or activities have you learned at a regional SWAT meeting that you would like to bring back to Gilchrist County?
A:  The most important idea I would like to bring back is the theme of “What’s Your Why?”

Q: What’s your why?
A: I want to lower the amount of deaths from tobacco use.

Q: What would you like to accomplish in SWAT by the end of this school year?
A: I want to recruit more members and do activities like Kick Butts Day because it helps younger people to realize how bad tobacco use really is. Tobacco companies advertise by putting it next to candy in the stores and they also make it look like candy to appeal to the eyes of youth.

Do you know of a young person who would like to join Students Working Against Tobacco and put an end to tobacco use in Gilchrist County? Contact Tracy DeCubellis at tracyd@quitdoc.com for more information on club meetings and how to enroll!