Local teen helps keep kids tobacco free

Joining school clubs in middle and high school is a rite of passage. Finding your niche, connecting with other students who share your interests, and making an impact within your school just some of the reasons young people get involved.

Some, like Gulf Breeze High School junior Addie Benz, take their commitment a little more seriously.

Benz was recently elected to serve as chair for Santa Rosa County on Florida's Students Working Against Tobacco (SWAT) Youth Advisory Board. The Youth Advisory Board is a state wide anti-tobacco initiative.

Benz has been active in SWAT since seventh-grade and joins eleven other teens from across the state to serve on the Youth Advisory Board for 2011 – 2012. She will represent the panhandle region which encompasses 18 SWAT chapters.

 For more on this story, see the Oct. 6 issue of the Navarre Press or subscribe online.