Few things can bring students together like dressing wacky.

Towamensing Elementary is one of the local schools embracing the spirit during “Red Ribbon Week,” a nationwide campaign embracing healthy choices and drug, tobacco and alcohol use prevention.

“We’ve been doing something a little bit different every day,” said Ilana Mujevic, Towamensing student council president. “Yesterday was wear red day, today is wacky hair day and we have ’80s and tie-dye days coming up. Friday is our Halloween parade, so we get to dress up in our costumes.”

The theme of the week is making healthy choices, something Mujevic and her fellow student council members have been working hard to stress to their classmates.

“Red Ribbon Week is about getting kids not to do drugs or smoke or drink alcohol,” she said. “We want them to be healthy and make good choices.”

Student council discusses different ideas for themed days and then takes a final vote before the schedule is made. No matter the theme, the days have promoted unity throughout the building.

“It’s pretty amazing just to see how everyone can dress up and how we can come together as a school,” Taylor Eckhart, a Towamensing fifth-grade student, said. “The students really have a lot of fun at school this week, and they’re very excited to participate.”

The Red Ribbon Campaign started nationwide in 1985 in response to the murder of Drug Enforcement Administration Agent Enrique Camarena. Angered parents and youth in communities across the country began wearing red ribbons as a symbol of their commitment to raise awareness of the killing and destruction caused by drugs in America.

As a sixth-grader, Mujevic has been through several Red Ribbon Weeks, but she stressed the importance of spreading its message to the younger students.

“This week is important to all of us,” she said. “We want to enforce that everyone knows they should be making healthy choices, getting exercise, and making sure they’ll be healthy their whole life. Drugs and alcohol are big influencers on bad behaviors. It feels good to be in a group that is trying to make our school a better place.”

Eckhart thanked student council advisers Jodi Kocher and Stacey Olewine for their role in the week’s events.

“They started this group, and we’re very thankful because I think it helps our school be a little bit better than all the other schools,” Eckhart said.

Throughout the week, student council has been accepting donations for Family Promise, an area agency, which aims to help homeless individuals and families.

The charitable efforts have had a positive impact on students.

“It feels good to help people try to live their life to the fullest,” said Trevor Anthony, a Towamensing sixth-grade student.