Have you had a negative experience with tobacco? Maybe you have friends or family members who smoke and you wish they would stop before it is too late. If so, REBEL is the club for you.

REBEL stands for Reaching Everyone by Exposing Lies.  It is a student led organization with chapters all across New Jersey.  Members work to educate their peers and the public about the dangers of smoking and have been crucial in the changes in NJ law regarding public smoking.   

Over the last several years, Absegami REBEL members have participated in fundraisers and charity events for breast cancer awareness and children affected by cancer. REBEL members helped to pass the recent changes in New Jersey’s smoking laws which made it illegal to smoke in most public places.  They also marched in parades and collected thousands of signatures for a petition to make casinos smoke-free. We have made bulletin boards, posters, and display cases about the dangers of smoking. We have even taken "Vows of Silence" to bring awareness to the cause. If you feel strongly about the dangers of smoking and want to get involved in community service or just want an outlet for your creativity, we would love to have you as a member of the club. Please scroll below to see pictures of some of these events and find out more of the details.

In October of each year, REBEL members participate in the American Cancer Society's "Making Strides Against Breast Cancer" Walk. REBEL members also sponsored a "Denim Day" for Absegami faculty. Staff members are allowed to wear jeans for a $5 donation. Over $900 has been raised and donated to the breast cancer awareness walk through these fundraisers.

In November 2006, Absegami REBEL members participated in an event called “Project 1200”. We collected over 200 pairs of shoes which were used in a display at the Shore Mall along with 1000 other pairs of shoes collected by other Atlantic County REBEL groups.  The shoes had messages, statistics, and facts about smoking attached to them and represented the number of people who die every day as a result of smoking.  In addition to the shoe drive, REBEL members participated in the Great American Smokeout, held in November, by wearing their Project 1200 shirts and taking a vow of silence. 

 

During the 2007 and 2008 Great American Smokeout, REBEL and SADD members made body outlines throughout the school. Inside each body was a "toe tag" with a smoking fact or statistic. There were over 20 body outlines throughout the school.

Another major event was Kick Butts Day which is held annually in March.  REBEL members worked with SADD to sponsor contests and a carnival in 2006.  Participants played games with questions about tobacco and smoking.  Winners received gift cards, t-shirts, Frisbees, hats, backpacks, and other items. In addition to the contests and carnival, a slideshow of tobacco and smoking facts played on GamiTV during lunches and study halls. Hanging in the cafeteria was a banner with over 365 packs of cigarettes to showcase how many cigarettes the average smoker smokes in a year. The 2007 and 2008 Kick Butts Days were celebrated by a cigarette butt clean up of Absegami's parking lots. Even though smoking on school grounds is illegal, SADD club members helped REBEL collect hundreds of cigarette butts.

Absegami REBEL members have also attended summits with other Atlantic County REBEL groups, a state-wide Six Flags summit, parades, bowling nights, and movie nights.  At the county summit in the spring of 2008, AHS REBEL members put on a skit in front of other Atlantic County REBEL groups about the hazards of smoking. We made a cigarette costume and acted out a "Clue" style murder mystery in which the cigarette was the murderer.

REBEL also participates in an event called Fuzzy Friends which is held at the Build-A-Bear workshop in the Hamilton Mall each December.  Members make bears which are donated to children with cancer or children whose parents have cancer.

Hope to see you at a meeting in room 711!

Listen to the announcements, watch for signs, or visit the REBEL news page for the next meeting date.