KU Football Players Take Part In Red Ribbon Week

Oct. 26, 2010

LAWRENCE, Kan. – Students at Cordley Elementary in Lawrence, Kan. were pleasantly surprised on Monday afternoon when they found out the speakers for their all-school assembly were a trio of Kansas football players.

Senior linebacker Justin Springer, senior defensive end Jake Laptad and sophomore safety Lubbock Smith had the kindergartners on the front row arching their necks to see the towering football players.

Springer, Laptad, and Smith went to Cordley to address the students on the importance of staying drug free and taking care of their bodies. The football student-athletes answered questions as the school counselor led a Q&A about drugs and resistance to peer pressure. Springer and Smith used personal examples from their childhood and told the elementary students to “just say no” when offered drugs.

“To be successful in school, athletics, and life you need to stay off drugs,” Springer stressed.

Cordley Elementary, along with all of Lawrence Public schools, is taking part in a national initiative called Red Ribbon Week. Red Ribbon Week is the oldest and largest drug prevention campaign in the country. Red Ribbon Week serves as a vehicle for communities and individuals to take a stand for the hopes and dreams of our children through a commitment to drug prevention and education and a personal commitment to live drug-free lives with the ultimate goal being the creation of drug free America.

To conclude the assembly the elementary students were challenged to stand up and raise their right hand. Springer, Laptad, and Smith led the students in the following pledge:

– I pledge to practice the Cordley H.A.W.K. promise of kindness in words and actions.

– I pledge to stay in school and learn the things that I need to know.

– I pledge to make the world a better place for kids like me to grow.

– I pledge to keep my dreams alive and be all that I can be.

– I pledge to help others and myself to be drug free, safe and healthy.

Springer and Laptad wore their Red Ribbons for the rest of the day and the opportunity to challenge the student’s at Cordley Elementary to live drug free will last them for a lifetime.