The University of Texas at Arlington School of Social Work partnered with Berry Elementary to celebrate Red Ribbon Week, a national campaign promoting drug prevention and education among youth on October 28, 2025.
Michelle Young, Program Director for UTA’s Mavs for Youth initiative, said the event highlights the importance of prevention education and empowerment through fun, interactive learning.
“Today is our Red Ribbon event,” Young said. “This event happens every year, the last week of October, where we celebrate prevention, education and the importance of being alcohol, tobacco and drug free.”
The Mavs for Youth team led a series of engaging activities, including basketball, football and skee ball to help students learn through play. According to Young, the program’s mission is to restore focus on the original purpose of Red Ribbon Week, which is prevention and awareness.
“Red Ribbon is one of the longest-running national campaigns, but over the years the purpose has kind of gotten lost in the mix,” she said. “Our purpose is to re-emphasize prevention education. We provide fun and positive alternatives for our students. We bring a game, and we have some interactive fun with them, but also we're teaching them the importance of being alcohol, tobacco and drug free, as well as resiliency and protective factors.”
Patrick Weilert, Red Ribbon volunteer, leads an activity during the “Mavs for Youth” Red Ribbon event at Berry Elementary School. (Photo by Jaelon Jackson)
For Young, the work done at Berry Elementary exemplifies the spirit of social work in practice.
“This is social work in a nutshell,” she said. “Our purpose in what we do is to empower our clients and the populations that we serve. We are providing our students with education so that they can be informed and make some really informed choices. Students are presented with challenging problems every single day, so we want to reinforce them knowing that they have the power to choose.”
Community engagement, Young added, is at the heart of Mavs for Youth’s mission.
“It’s important for the community to see you as a fellow member,” she said. “So we go out to the schools, we are doing the right practice work, we engage with them. They know our faces, they know our name. Mavs for Youth is among the Arlington ISD and Grand Prairie ISD community. They know of us and what we do.”
The event underscores the School of Social Work’s ongoing commitment to fostering well-being and empowerment across North Texas communities.
“We are a force in the community,” Young said. “We really enjoy having the opportunity to engage directly with our participants. We learn something from them and they learn something from us. So it’s a really great experience.”