| ISLAND TEENS ADVOCACY TEAM ITAT NEWSLETTER July 2020 Celebrate Being Tobacco Free ITAT prepares for a great school year Life is Worth Living As summer comes to a close, our ITAT students are busy preparing for a great tobacco-free year of advocacy! In addition, ITAT has added a new initiative to their mission this year: suicide prevention. Our motto for our new initiative is "Life is Worth Living". This year, our ITAT students will add to their advocacy knowledge by learning more about mental health and suicide prevention. There is a link between tobacco use and suicide rates in the Pacific Islander community and ITAT is fighting to stop both tobacco use and high rates of suicide in our community! With monthly advocacy challenges, our Island Teens are educating their peers, families, and communities on the dangers of smoking + vaping, and sharing informative mental health and suicide statistics/resources. This year, ITAT will be busy with educational booths, service projects, and civic engagement with their local legislators. ITAT Student Spotlight: Lianne Albert This month, our ITAT student spotlight is Provo High Schools' ITAT president, Lianne Albert. Lianne is a senior in high school this year. She is the oldest of 5 children, loves cajun and seafood because her dad is from Louisiana, and is turning 17 in November. She loves music, her favorite genres are old school, r&b, and rap. She loves spending time with her family and having their own 2k tournament, sleeping, and playing basketball. Lianne wants to attend college at UCLA or Stanford and also wants to play sports in college. Her dream job would be working with sports communication or sports media for National Geographic or ESPN. When asked why Lianne chooses to participate in ITAT, this was her response: "I was introduced to ITAT by my school counselor, Mr. Ah You. After that I loved ITAT. I got to be given many opportunities to speak not only to my fellow school mates but also legislatives not only representing ITAT but my Polynesian community. ITAT gives us opportunities to learn the dangers of drugs as well as try to prevent people with a more broad focus on teenagers to not try any. ITAT has been great and can’t wait what more to come in the future!" We are proud of your accomplishments and happy to have you be a part of ITAT, Lianne! . Lianne (second from left) with her fellow ITAT students Tobacco Facts: -Tobacco is the #1 cause of preventable death -7.6% of Utah teens use e-cigarettes regularly -Tobacco still kills nearly half a million Americans and more than 7 million people worldwide each year The tobacco industry relentlessly peddles its deadly products, targeting kids and other vulnerable populations. Tobacco kills over 480,000 people in the U.S. and over 7 million worldwide each year. -5.6 million kids alive today in the U.S. will ultimately die from smoking In the U.S. alone, tobacco companies spend $9.1 billion a year — $1 million every hour — to market their deadly products. (Utah DOH, center4research.com , tobaccofreekids.org ) Suicide Facts : Suicide is the 10th cause of death in the US (for all ages) There is one suicide every 12 minutes in the US Suicide takes the lives of over 44,965 Americans every year An estimated quarter million people each year become suicide survivors (AAS). (https://ibis.health.utah.gov, https://healthcare.utah.edu, CDC): COVID UPDATE: The Pacific Islander community in Utah has the highest rates of COVID-19. Please continue to practice safe social distancing practices and wear masks in public places! UPCOMING EVENTS: September 10th: National Suicide Prevention Walk September 19th: ITAT leadership training Visit Our Site Let's be buddies |
ISLAND TEENS ADVOCACY TEAM | |
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July 2020
Celebrate Being Tobacco Free
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ITAT prepares for a great school year | |
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As summer comes to a close, our ITAT students are busy preparing for a great tobacco-free year of advocacy! In addition, ITAT has added a new initiative to their mission this year: suicide prevention. Our motto for our new initiative is "Life is Worth Living". This year, our ITAT students will add to their advocacy knowledge by learning more about mental health and suicide prevention. There is a link between tobacco use and suicide rates in the Pacific Islander community and ITAT is fighting to stop both tobacco use and high rates of suicide in our community!
With monthly advocacy challenges, our Island Teens are educating their peers, families, and communities on the dangers of smoking + vaping, and sharing informative mental health and suicide statistics/resources. This year, ITAT will be busy with educational booths, service projects, and civic engagement with their local legislators.
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ITAT Student Spotlight: Lianne Albert
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This month, our ITAT student spotlight is Provo High Schools' ITAT president, Lianne Albert. Lianne is a senior in high school this year. She is the oldest of 5 children, loves cajun and seafood because her dad is from Louisiana, and is turning 17 in November. She loves music, her favorite genres are old school, r&b, and rap. She loves spending time with her family and having their own 2k tournament, sleeping, and playing basketball.
Lianne wants to attend college at UCLA or Stanford and also wants to play sports in college. Her dream job would be working with sports communication or sports media for National Geographic or ESPN.
When asked why Lianne chooses to participate in ITAT, this was her response:
"I was introduced to ITAT by my school counselor, Mr. Ah You. After that I loved ITAT. I got to be given many opportunities to speak not only to my fellow school mates but also legislatives not only representing ITAT but my Polynesian community. ITAT gives us opportunities to learn the dangers of drugs as well as try to prevent people with a more broad focus on teenagers to not try any. ITAT has been great and can’t wait what more to come in the future!"
We are proud of your accomplishments and happy to have you be a part of ITAT, Lianne! .
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Lianne (second from left) with her fellow ITAT students | | |
Tobacco Facts:
-Tobacco is the #1 cause of preventable death
-7.6% of Utah teens use e-cigarettes regularly
-Tobacco still kills nearly half a million Americans and more than 7 million people worldwide each year
- The tobacco industry relentlessly peddles its deadly products, targeting kids and other vulnerable populations.
- Tobacco kills over 480,000 people in the U.S. and over 7 million worldwide each year.
-5.6 million kids alive today in the U.S. will ultimately die from smoking
- In the U.S. alone, tobacco companies spend $9.1 billion a year — $1 million every hour — to market their deadly products.
(Utah DOH, center4research.com, tobaccofreekids.org)
Suicide Facts :
- Suicide is the 10th cause of death in the US (for all ages)
- There is one suicide every 12 minutes in the US
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Suicide takes the lives of over 44,965 Americans every year
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An estimated quarter million people each year become suicide survivors (AAS).
(https://ibis.health.utah.gov, https://healthcare.utah.edu, CDC):
COVID UPDATE:
The Pacific Islander community in Utah has the highest rates of COVID-19. Please continue to practice safe social distancing practices and wear masks in public places!
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UPCOMING EVENTS:
September 10th: National Suicide Prevention Walk
September 19th: ITAT leadership training
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