N-O-T News
Brought to you by The American Lung Association of West Virginia, the WV Bureau for Public Health Division of Tobacco Prevention, the Governors Safe and Drug Free Communities Program and the West Virginia Department of Education
Upcoming Trainings
N-O-T facilitator training ŕ March 4, 2004 at RESA 7 in Clarksburg.
˝ day N-O-T Refresher training ŕ March 17, 2004 at Flatwoods.
˝ day T.A.T.U. Refresher training ŕ March 17, 2004 at Flatwoods.
Study shows that tobacco use reduction increased success in quitting!
A new study examined whether smokers who reduce their quantity of cigarettes smoked between two periods are more or less likely to quit subsequently. Data came from the Health and Retirement Study, a nationally representative survey of older Americans aged 51-61 in 1991. They were followed every two years from 1992 to 1998. The 2,064 participants’ smoking habits at baseline and the first follow-up comprise the main sample.
RESULTS: Large (over 50 percent) and even moderate (25 percent to 50 percent) reductions in quantity smoked between 1992 and 1994 predict an increased likelihood of cessation. Additionally, those who reduced and then quit were somewhat less likely to relapse by 1998 than those who did not reduce in the two years prior to quitting. Reducing successfully the quantity of cigarettes smoked appears to have a beneficial effect on future cessation likelihood, even after controlling for initial smoking level and other variables known to impact smoking cessation.
Falba T, Jofre-Bonet M, Busch S, Duchovny N, Sindelar J. Reduction of quantity smoked predicts future cessation among older smokers. Addiction. 2004 Jan;99(1):93-102.
Refresher Training
Are you a N-O-T facilitator that is not currently supporting a group because you just don’t feel comfortable with your skill level? Do you need a little boost or a refresher to update your tobacco knowledge or facilitation skills?
We have developed short, one-half day update, or refresher, workshops in both our T.A.T.U. and N-O-T youth prevention and cessation programs. In these workshops we will give you updated facts, new activities and enough information to bring you up-to-date in current tobacco control programs and strategies in West Virginia. Both T.A.T.U. and N-O-T workshops will be offered on the same day; one in the morning and one in the afternoon. People trained in both programs can attend a full day workshop and others just a one-half day workshop for the program they need.
Please contact us if you are interested. If you are not currently supporting a group, we do ask that you make a commitment to do so once you attend the workshop. If you are actively supporting a group, we welcome you to come to receive the most recent information on our programs. Your Regional Tobacco Prevention Specialists (RTPS) are also available to assist you in getting the programs into your schools and to help you on a local basis.
Since the release of the first Surgeon General’s report on smoking and health in the United States in 1964, about 10 million people have died from smoking-related diseases in the United States.
Thank you for not standing by while our children become statistics!
I would like to congratulate the following schools for providing the N-O-T program.
Location Point of Contact
Cabell County Youth Empowerment Pgm Mr. White
Camaron High School Ms. Fisher
East Bank Middle School Ms. Kirk / Ms. Hamilton
Fayetteville High School Ms. Hall / Mr. Kincaid
Grafton High School Ms. White
Greenbrier East High School Ms Hall
Hamlin High School Ms. Linville
Jefferson High School Ms. Turner
John Marshall High School Ms. Fisher
Midland Trail High School Ms. Terry
Nicholas County Vo-Tech Ms. Woods
North Marion High School Ms. Conaway
North Marion High School Mr. Henderson
Parkersburg High School Ms. Knapp
Pendleton County High School Ms. See
Ripley High School Ms. Sharp
Ripley Middle School Ms. Lott
Scott High School Ms. McClure
Sissonville High School Ms. Burdette/Mr. Mead
South Charleston High School Ms. Payne
Tolsia High School Ms. LaHoda
Tug Valley High School Mr. Ledger
Union Educational Complex Ms. Mielecki
Wayne Middle School Ms. Rakes
Wheeling Park High School Ms. Hershey / Mr. Boissy
Woodrow Wilson High School Ms. Monroe / Ms. Horton
Incentives 
Mini-Grants
$50 mini-grants are available to get your groups started. The mini-grant can be used to purchase pencils, stress balls and most importantly, food! We have heard many times, “If you feed them, they will come!” Applying for the mini-grant is easy.
Stipends
Another positive incentive are the $250 Stipends which are available for facilitators after all evaluation materials have been returned to ALAWV.
Student Journals
Program expenses are kept to a minimum since we provide all required hand outs for students in this “journal.” Blank pages are provided for the students to write in.
Big News: Stipends now available for “Alternative To Suspension” program!
Thanks to a generous grant from the Department of Education office of healthy schools we now have stipends available for facilitators who use the ATS program in their schools. We will use the same guidelines that we use for NOT:
1. Facilitators must complete all four sessions of the ATS program to receive the $100 stipend.
2. Facilitators currently running an ATS session are eligible for the stipend, however, already completed sessions will not be grandfathered.
3. Each school is eligible to receive five $100 stipends for running the ATS program per school year for a maximum of $500 per school.
4. Simultaneous ATS programs started every other week at the same school will not be endorsed. To be eligible for the stipend the facilitator must complete the series of four sessions prior to commencing a new one.
5. To be eligible to earn a stipend there must be at least three students participating in the ATS class. The NOT ATS program requires many group activities. Furthermore, the research for this program was completed with the teens participating in small groups of 5-7. We feel that in order maintain the integrity of the N-O-T/ATS program we must insure the small group dynamics. We believe that by participating in the Small Group environment youth develop effective communication and caring skills. Small groups provide a sense of security for the teens and lets them know they are not alone in their addiction; it gives them a support network. Small groups further provide an environment to which facilitators can be more effective and productive than they could ever be on a one-to-one basis.
6. Facilitators must submit the required ATS evaluation forms (found attached and on the N-O-T web site) to receive the $100 stipend.
You can find all these resources and more at our web site click here ŕ N-O-T
Point of contacts:
N-O-T Program Manager
Tony Richards
American Lung Association of WV
Post Office Box 3980, 415 Dickinson Street
Charleston, West Virginia 25339-3980
(304) 342-6600 or 1-800-LUNG-USA
Regional Tobacco Prevention Specialists