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Mount Airy Middle School students caught a close-up glimpse of a helicopter last week as part of the school's kick-off event for Red Ribbon Week, a drug abuse prevention effort.

They listened to a speaker from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, then got up close and personal with one of the agency's helicopters, melding the talk and the walk against drug abuse.

The event was to help kick off Red Ribbon Week, which runs through Friday, said teacher Christine May, who is also the advisor to Students Helping Others and Understanding Themselves, a peer leadership club for middle school students.

"We learned about drugs and alcohol and how to prevent them... if you're in a situation, how to get out of it and stuff," said Carrie Embrey, a seventh-grader who is part of the club.

Kathryn Everitt, also a seventh-grader and member of the club, said she learned new things from assembly speaker A. Keith Adkins, and about how Red Ribbon week originated.

Adkins, who held assemblies on Oct. 20 and 21 for the students, is the Demand Reduction Coordinator with the Drug Enforcement Administration in Baltimore.

"The average age drug abuse starts is 11 years old," Adkins said told students. "How old are you guys?"

The sixth-graders, impressed at the novelty, eagerly answered "11!"

"When I was in sixth grade, no one knew about drugs," Adkins said. He went through a long list of common substances used today, asking students if they had heard of them.

"Marijuana, methamphetamines, cocaine, LSD," his voice echoed in the blue and gold gym as students repeatedly raised their hands.

"That just shows me you guys are way ahead of the curve," he said. "Now you have to make the decision not to use these substances."

Adkins stressed the dangers of drugs in his talk, saying people respond differently to drugs, and it can take just one time to kill.

He said another growing concern is inhalants, where users may inhale chemicals from everything from glue to everyday household cleaners to starve their lungs of air and achieve a "high."

Red Ribbon Week is the oldest and largest drug prevention campaign in the country. The campaign started as a commemoration to a Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent, Enrique "Kiki" Camarena, to help further the cause that he died for in 1985.

Drug Enforcement Administration agents brought a helicopter that landed in a field next to the school after the assembly, giving students a chance to speak with the pilots and ask questions.

E-mail Angie Cochrun at acochrun@gazette.net.