Helping those in need is a theme the staff at Towamensing Elementary School ingrains in its students.

This week is no different as students have already collected nearly a dozen bags full of school supplies during the school's annual Red Ribbon Week celebration.According to Jodi Kocher, Towamensing guidance counselor, the supplies will be sorted and mostly kept in house for use in the school.The collection is held in conjunction with Red Ribbon Week as students have been learning about making healthy choices such as drug, tobacco and alcohol use prevention."We've had a number of different lessons this week focusing on healthy choices, not doing things to harm our bodies, respecting our teachers and ourselves, dealing with peer pressure and showing empathy," Kocher said.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.Towamensing held different "spirit" days this week with themes such as pink day (for breast cancer awareness), crazy hair day, fancy day and sports day.Sixth-grade student and student council vice president Hannah Serfass said her favorite day was sports day because she could wear her Chicago Cubs shirt."I like the Cubs since I went to Wrigley Field in 2014 with my family," Serfass said.Serfass, along with fellow sixth-graders and student council members Reilly Burke, Trey Sterling, Julia Finley and Riley Fallon, spoke Thursday about what they'll take away from this week's event.The students said they enjoyed collecting school supplies and knowing what they are doing is helping people at the same time."We're learning to stay healthy and treat people the way you want to be treated," Sterling said.Students received red ribbons to wear. Certain ribbons had numbers on them and the students who received them got a prize.Towamensing students have a strong history of helping others.Past student councils have donated to the VALOR Clinic, organized food drives for the Palmerton food bank, set up a Christmas giving tree and visited the residents of Renee's Personal Care Home in Palmerton.