T-SHIRT with a MESSAGE

Rachel Reischman said she chooses choir over art class, but her artistic talent will be on display this fall. Reischman, a junior at Chaffee High School, won a T-shirt design contest for Teens Against Tobacco Use. The program trains about 150 students each year, said Terry Baker, tobacco prevention project manager at Saint Francis Medical Center. Students from area schools will come to the hospital for a daylong training this fall to learn about the health effects of smoking and how to handle peer pressure. Baker said this is the first year for the design contest and all participating students will receive a shirt with Reischman's logo. The Southeast Missourian talked with Reisch-man about her design and the program.

Name/age: Rachel Diane Reischman, 16

School: Chaffee High School

Grade: Junior

Other high school activities: FBLA, TATU, Beta Club, Team Spirit

How did you come up with the T-shirt design? Me and my adviser came up with the idea, and tried to see how we could tie the whole "tobacco part" in the design.

What medium did you use? I used colored pencil to color most of the design. And regular pencil for the shadowing, then I traced it with permanent marker.

Do you like to doodle in class? I love to doodle, even though I probably shouldn't during class.

How many students in your school are in Teens Against Tobacco Use and what does the group do? There are seven members, and we do presentations to grades third to eighth once a year. We also do activities with the high school students to make them aware of the dangers of smoking.

Why do you think it is important for teens to not use tobacco? I think it's important for teens to not use tobacco because not only are they hurting themselves, but they're a bad influence on younger kids. These days younger kids do anything and everything they see high school students do. It's going to get worse and we need to stand up and try and prevent it.

What do you do to encourage your peers to stay away from tobacco? I just tell them how gross it is and that they're pretty much killing themselves.

what are your plans after high school? I plan to attend college and become a teacher or something that deals with people. I love being around people.