2016-2017 ISTEP Chapter Activity Guide
Save The Date:
 Red Ribbon Week—
October 23-31, 2016
Chapter Activity Guide 2016-2017
Chapter Activity Plans and Reporting
For the 2016-2017 academic year,
ISTEP is sending out all activity plans
in one document. In addition to the
main ‘tobacco holidays’ (Red Ribbon
Week, Great American Smoke Out,
Through With Chew Week and Kick
Butts Day) we also have included
activities that you can do at any
time during the year.
ISTEP Activities & Point System:
All activities will have points
attached to them year round, and
the chapter with the most points by
the April summit will receive a
special award and recognition. To
earn points, your chapter must
participate in activities.
If you participate in 1 of the 4
‘tobacco holidays’ you can earn 20
points for that planned activity.
There is an easy component that is 5
points and a more complex
component which is 15 points, for a
total of 20 points per planned
‘tobacco holiday’ activity.
For every planned ‘tobacco holiday’
there are 50 bonus points available,
which will only be awarded to one
participating chapter. Photos of your
event must be submitted to be
considered for bonus points.
 Great American Smoke
Out—November 17, 2016
*Activities run the week of
November 14-18, 2016
 Through With Chew Week—
February 13-17, 2017
 Kick Butts Day—
March 15, 2017
*Activities run the entire
month of March 2017.
 ISTEP Summit 2017—
Tuesday, April 25, 2017
Each ‘tobacco holiday’ will include
optional activities to do during this
time as well. The optional activities
do not count toward the bonus points
for each tobacco holiday, but
chapters can earn additional points by
participating in the optional activities.
Chapter Activity Reporting:
To earn points, your chapter must submit an
activity report online, shortly after
completing the activity. (See page 2 for
more information on Chapter Activity
Reporting.)
ISTEP Participation Prizes and Gear
ISTEP Participation Prizes:
ISTEP T-Shirts:
ISTEP participation prizes are tied
to the point system. In order to
receive ISTEP participation prizes,
your chapter must accumulate at
a minimum, 20 points for the
year.
New members are eligible to receive an ISTEP
t-shirt, for being involved with the program.
These shirts may be worn during events to
promote the program locally and statewide.
To order t-shirts for your chapter, please
complete the online order form: https://
www.iowastep.org/istep-t-shirt-order-form
Inside this Guide:
Year Round Activities
2
Red Ribbon Week
3-4
Great American Smoke Out
4-5
Through With Chew Week 5-6
Kick Butts Day
7-8
ISTEP Summit 2017
8
World No Tobacco Day 9
Page 2
Year Round Activities
Suggested Activities for Each Month can be found on pages 42-45 of the ISTEP
Chapter Resource Guide. If you are looking for activities to do anytime during the
year, these are listed on pages 46-59 of the ISTEP Chapter Resource Guide. If you
do not have a hard copy of the guide, there is a pdf version online:
https://www.iowastep.org/document/istep-chapter-resource-guide-2015
*Optional activities may also be conducted anytime during the year for points.
Social Media Engagement
Does your chapter want to get EASY bonus points before the activities begin?
Have a chapter advisor, member, friend or family member do the following:
Like us on Facebook (5pts+) www.facebook.com/IowaSTEP
*Once you like the page, send us a private message letting us know what chapter you are with.
*You will receive 5pts for each like and message:
Likes/Messages can come from friends, family and chapter members. If we get a like, followed by a
message with your chapter name, your chapter will receive 5pts for each entry.
Follow us on Twitter (5pts+) www.twitter.com/IowaSTEP
*Once you follow us, send us a private message letting us know what chapter you are with.
*You will receive 5pts for each follower and message:
Followers can be friends, family and chapter members. If we get a new follower, and a message with your
chapter name, your chapter will receive 5pts for each entry.
Chapter Activity Report Form
When you complete an ISTEP Activity with your chapter for the year, make sure to let us know so you
can earn points. The Chapter Activity Report Form is on our website, and requires 5-10 minutes of
your time. This form lets us know that your chapter has completed an activity and gets you in the
running for participation points which lead to prizes. Each chapter has up 2 weeks after an event to
submit their activity report form. Here is a link to the Chapter Activity Report Form:
https://www.iowastep.org/chapter-activity-report-form
*In addition, you can tag us in your social media posts on twitter, facebook and Instagram: @IowaSTEP
2016-2017 ISTEP Chapter Activity Guide
Page 3
Red Ribbon Week - October 23-31, 2016
To build on the classic crime scene activity, intended to expose Big Tobacco and
motivate high school students to prevent tobacco use, the youth executive
council had the idea of having a statewide game of Clue.
Each chapter is given information about the suspect, an object and then the
chapter determines the location. Chapters are asked to set up a crime scene in
the school, and use the ‘clue cards’ (which serve as evidence markers) to scatter
around the ‘body’. *See ‘objects’ clue card attachment, included in email.
ISTEP wear red day is
Wednesday, October 26, 2016
To create a crime scene, you will need the following supplies:
(see photo below)



Yellow Caution/Police Tape
Body Outlines
 Made on the floor with masking tape around a person. Represents the 1,300 Americans
killed every day by Big Tobacco’s products.
Evidence Markers
 Folded sheets of cardstock, that include written evidence on the suspect and objects used
to commit the crime. The evidence markers can include:
 Shocking facts & statistics about the tobacco industry (the suspect) AND/OR
 Photo images of tobacco products and their candy look a likes (object)
Suspect: Big Tobacco
Object: Tobacco/Candy look a likes (example: they thought
it was a tic-tac, but it was really a camel orb) – placing the
tobacco/candy look a like photos on the crime scene cards
and placing them around the body outline
(see included attachment for candy/tobacco look a likes).
Location: Youth take photos of where tobacco use is
prevalent in their community and where they are targeted to
determine the ‘location’. The chapter to submit the most
location photos would get the bonus points for this activity.
20pts = full activity as planned
15pts = Clue Game participation and/or crime scene activity set up at your school
5pts= wear your red ISTEP Shirt on “Wear Red Day”
ISTEP wear red day is scheduled for Wednesday, October 26, 2016.
50pts BONUS – Most involved chapter gets the 50 extra points for this activity. *Based on the
number of location photos you submit for the game of Clue, AKA: where youth are targeted by the
tobacco industry in your community/where you see advertisements in your hometown. Photo
submissions are required* Only 1 chapter will receive the 50 bonus points.
Page 4
Red Ribbon Week (Optional Activities)
These activities do not count toward the 50 bonus points for RRW. These are optional activities to do
during this time or another time during the year. Points will be given to your chapter for participating:
Halloween Hall of Horrors (5pts)
Decorate a hallway or other area in your school that shows the horrifying effects of tobacco use.
Sponsor a Tobacco Free/Nicotine Free event; hold a corn maze or haunted house– (10pts)
Team up with a local area event such as a corn maze or haunted house and ask them to adopt a tobacco/
nicotine free event policy – if the event is family friendly, and they adopt the policy, recognize them within
the community.
Mystery Box (5pts)
In a cardboard box or a shoe box that is covered, place objects that are slimy, squishy, hairy etc. – that
could resemble effects of tobacco use. Maybe one box there is hair gel, which you then tell participants is
phlegm that your body coughs up when you are sick – when a person uses tobacco, they tend to cough up
much more phlegm because their body is trying to get toxins out of the body. Maybe in another box you
have a koosh ball, which could symbolize the cilia in the lungs which helps push out toxins from the body…
use the mystery box as an educational tool on tobacco use and the health effects it can cause.
Great American Smoke Out—November 14-18, 2016
This is a twist on the classic board game of Life. For this activity, we are looking for your chapter to get
noticed. Get permission first, and then chalk the walk—decorate sidewalk squares to look like the
Game of Life, and include tobacco facts, statistics and quotes in each square. Go above and beyond
with creativity—hang up colorful paper with facts in the hallways in addition to, or instead of chalking
the sidewalks—have permission to decorate a few parking spaces? Go for it. The brighter the better.
20pts = full activity as planned
15pts = Chalk the Walk - sidewalks, hallways or parking lot spaces decorated like the game of
life which provide tobacco facts/statistics/quotes in each square.
5pts= Promote Quiltine Iowa
10pts BONUS = your chapter creates a game wheel, that looks like the centerpiece from the game
and educates others using the created game wheel. (Every chapter can get 10 bonus pts if they create
a game wheel).
50pts BONUS = We are looking for the ISTEP Chapter who decorates their campus sidewalks, hallways
or parking lot spaces to most resemble the board game itself. The brighter the better, how did you
make your chapter’s event stand out? Photo submissions are required* to see how your chapter
decorated the campus. Only 1 chapter will receive the 50 bonus points.
Page 5
2016-2017 ISTEP Chapter Activity Guide
Great American Smoke Out (Optional Activities)
These activities do not count toward the 50 bonus points for GASO. These are optional activities to do
during this time or another time during the year. Points will be given to your chapter for participating:
In My Shoes (10pts)
Everyone has a story to share of why they
are involved in the tobacco movement. Trace
your shoes on a sheet of colorful paper, and
write your story inside the shoe outlines.
Your story can include why you’re tobacco
free, who you’ve lost due to tobacco use or
why you quit tobacco. Invite others to do the
same. Once you have multiple pairs
collected, hang them up in a public area for
others to see (think school cafeteria etc.)
1300 Shoes (10pts)
If you can find 1300 pairs of shoes…round them up and put them on display. Each pair of shoes can
have a fact attached - telling the story of the missing person: Tobacco use kills 1300 people every day
in the United States.
Post It Notes (10pts)
Spell out the number “1,300” with post it notes. On each post it note, write a tobacco fact or quote.
On a larger sheet of paper write: “Tobacco use kills 1300 people every day in the United States. “and
put this up beside the 1,300 outline of post-it notes.
*See page 36 of the ISTEP Chapter Resource Guide for industry quotes.
Cup a Fence (5pts)
Cup a Quitline Iowa promotional message into a fence on school property (get permission first). This
can be the Quitline Iowa number 1-800-Quit-Now or another short message your chapter thinks of.
*See page 40 of the ISTEP Chapter Resource Guide for a description.
Through With Chew Week—February 13-17, 2017
Through With Chew Week was suggested to be modeled after the game Operation. Using fact sheets on
oral health and tobacco use – showing what smokeless tobacco does to the mouth, and what it does to the
body - youth educate others using an interactive bean bag toss game.
Create a cardboard person cut out box that can be placed on the floor and used as a bean bag game. Then
have youth play the game: the area of the body that the bean bag lands in, a chapter member reads a fact
about how chewing tobacco affects that part of the body. Chapters also could create the body outlines
activity – which is the same idea, labeling how chewing tobacco affects the body.
Continued on the next page.
Page 6
Through With Chew Week Continued...
Earn Points for the 2017 TWCW Activity:
20pts = full activity as planned
15pts = Cardboard Cut Out Bean Bag Toss and/or Body Outlines
5pts = Set up a booth - During lunch or before/after school educating on smokeless tobacco.
50pts BONUS –Can you model your event after the board game Operation? Break out the doctor/dentist
costumes, grab your best markers to make the body outlines. Only 1 chapter will receive 50 bonus points
for being the most creative. Photo submissions are required*
Through With Chew Week (Optional Activities)
These activities do not count toward the 50 bonus points for TWCW. These are optional activities to do
during this time or another time during the year. Points will be given to your chapter for participating:
Hold assemblies or educate classes at Middle Schools (5pts)
Oral Health Screenings (10pts)
These will need to be scheduled a few months in advance with an I-Smile Coordinator who does the free
dental screenings. Your school also will need to have consent forms filled out by parents, which will need
to be completed in advance. These forms may come from an I-Smile Coordinator if your school does not
already have them. Contact your local community partnership for this information.
Make your own ‘chewing tobacco’ (5pts)
Learn the harmful ingredients in chewing tobacco by mixing your own. *Everyday items that are not
harmful will represent the different chemicals in tobacco. For the activity instructions, see the attachment
in the email. Pictures below.
2016-2017 ISTEP Chapter Activity Guide
Page 7
Kick Butts Day—March 15, 2017
Kick Butts Day is being held nationally on March 15, 2017. For ISTEP Chapters, you can earn points by
completing the planned activity anytime during the entire month of March.
Modeled after the board game Monopoly, educate on how much Big Tobacco spends in advertising/
marketing and what they have said about youth. Demonstrate how youth are a target of the tobacco
industry even today.
“Big Tobacco, go straight to jail, do not pass go, do not collect $200”
Did you know that the tobacco industry spends $1 million every hour on advertising? These
advertisements primarily are in places where you can purchase tobacco products; your local
convenience stores and other licensed tobacco retailers.
Did you know that in some communities, these retailers are within 300 feet of schools? That means
on your daily route to school you could be seeing tobacco advertising that targets youth.
Kick Butts Day is about making an impact in your local community, and educating those around you on
the tobacco industry practices. This activity will look at the location of tobacco advertising. In your
community, do you see tobacco advertising near schools or on a route to/from school every day?
1) Using the Iowa Mapper (https://mapping.countertools.org/iowa/) zoom into your local city, right
down to your school. Using the “policy tester” tab, see if there are retailers within 300ft, 500ft, 1200ft
or ½ mile.
2) Once you know that piece of information, choose an activity from CounterTobacco.org to do with
your chapter: http://countertobacco.org/resources-tools/youth-and-community-engagement/
*If you prefer to stay indoors for this event, Against Youth Targeting provides 2 indoor games
to play that have emphasis on product packaging, and Tobacco Retailer Nation can be done
from inside the classroom in a computer lab.
*Most of these activities involve venturing out into the areas around your school. We suggest
the Walking Tobacco Audit as a first time activity.
20pts = full activity as planned
15pts = Demonstrate how youth are a target of the tobacco industry even today: use the Iowa
Mapper and choose an activity from Counter Tobacco. *Take photos along your route, and of the
advertisements you see in your community.
5pts = Educate your peers on how much Big Tobacco spends in advertising/marketing and what
they have said about youth. Creatively tie this to the monopoly theme.
50pts BONUS – Creatively tie your event into the Monopoly theme. Show the advertising of the
tobacco industry, how they target youth and justify why they should not pass GO or collect $200+.
Only 1 chapter will receive 50 bonus points. Photo submissions are required*
Page 8
Kick Butts Day (Optional Activities)
These activities do not count toward the 50 bonus points for KBD. These are optional activities to do
during this time. Points will be given to your chapter for participating:
Popcorn Bag Labels (5pts)
Create labels with tobacco facts. Get permission from the person who runs your concession stands, to put
these labels on concession items like popcorn bags during a basketball game or other sporting events.
*see page 41 of the ISTEP Chapter Resource Guide for activity instructions.
Wear a sandwich board for sporting event or community event (5pts)
*see page 39 of the ISTEP Chapter Resource Guide for activity instructions.
It’s All About the Benjamins (5pts)
*see page 39 of the ISTEP Chapter Resource Guide for activity instructions.
An Activity from the Kick Butts Day website (10pts)
http://www.kickbuttsday.org/search-activities/
Register your event on the Kick Butts Day Website (5pts)
http://www.kickbuttsday.org/get_started/step_2/
2017 ISTEP Summit
SAVE THE DATE: Tuesday, April 25, 2017
Every year, ISTEP holds an annual summit for youth and ISTEP Chapter members to come together and
learn new information, see what other chapters across the state are doing and be acknowledged for
their efforts during the year. The ISTEP Summit is a free event and open to youth in grades 7-12. All
youth (grades 7-12) are welcome to attend, and we encourage all chapters to send at least 2 youth
representatives and an adult to the event.
This year’s guest presenter will be the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, from Washington D.C.
Mark your calendars for this one day event and be on the look out for more information. Any questions
about the ISTEP Summit can be directed to Robbyn Duchow, ISTEP Youth Coordinator—
[email protected]
2016-2017 ISTEP Chapter Activity Guide
Page 9
World No Tobacco Day—May 31, 2017
Is your chapter looking to make a difference on the environment? World No Tobacco Day may give
you the opportunity to do just that.
Educate your peers and community about the negative impact that tobacco use has on the
environment. There are many resources available such as the Tobacco Product Waste Reduction
Toolkit: https://www.cdph.ca.gov/programs/tobacco/Documents/Resources/Publications/
Tobacco_Product_Waste_Reduction_Toolkit.pdf
Using this toolkit, your chapter can go beyond the one time cigarette butt clean up and educate the
community, school, city parks department etc. on the importance of a cigarette butt litter clean up.
Cleaning up the cigarette butts from a nearby park makes an impact but it’s also important to educate
others on the negative environmental impact that cigarette butts have on our parks, highways and
waterways.
Join others on World No Tobacco Day, and help make our world a better place—by cleaning up the
tobacco litter, and educating those around you about the damaging effects tobacco butts can leave
behind. Cigarette Litter Clean up (5pts), Educating Others on Impact (15pts) = 20 pts
For more activity ideas for World No Tobacco Day, see page 45 of the ISTEP Chapter Resource Guide.
Iowa Students for Tobacco Education and Prevention (ISTEP) is a program provided by the Iowa
Department of Public Health, Tobacco Use Prevention and Control Division.
Since 2000, Iowa teens have had an active role in changing the general social attitude toward tobacco
use. The first youth summit on tobacco was held in July 2000 with just over 130 students present.
More than a decade later, the youth tobacco prevention program grew to include over 4,000
members statewide. 2011 ushered in a new wave of youth and a new environment for tobacco use
prevention and control. That same year ISTEP was established.
Youth saw the need for continued education on the subject matter of tobacco and held their first
youth summit as ISTEP in the summer of 2012, with close to 50 students in attendance. During the last
few years, ISTEP has grown to have 2,200 registered members in local chapters statewide. For more
information visit us online at www.IowaSTEP.org
Iowa Department of Public Health | Lucas State Office Building | 321 E. 12th St | Des Moines, Iowa | 50319-0075
Division of Tobacco Use Prevention and Control | Phone 515.725.2939 | www.IowaSTEP.org
DEAF RELAY (Hearing or Speech Impaired) 711 or 1-800-735-2942