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Riverbank PHAST Club Members Capture Awards
Club
Riverbank High School students and PHAST (Protecting Health And Slamming Tobacco) club members Monica Montanez and Krystin Hernandez along with PHAST Club Advisor Maritza Alvarez were in attendance at the recent Slammies Awards Ceremony. Photo Contributed

The PHAST (Protecting Health And Slamming Tobacco) Slammies Award Ceremony recognized students of participating high schools throughout the Stanislaus County last week. PHAST club members and advisor Maritza Alvarez representing Riverbank High School (RHS) attended the ceremony on May 3 at Brenden Theaters in Modesto. Adelante Continuation High School (AHS) PHAST club members along with advisor Kristi Santos were also present at the awards ceremony where they received an honorable mention.

Over 30 Stanislaus County high schools participated in the awards ceremony and created a PSA video to warn others about the dangers of tobacco. The videos were viewed at the ceremony where AHS received fourth place and RHS received third place recognition for their videos.

The students at both AHS and RHS received certificates and gift cards. All the club members worked on creating the video and the two main members of the RHS video team were Olivia Vigil and Ceaser Vizcaino along with assistance with video editing from RHS Graphic Design Instructor, Jon Gianelli.

AHS PHAST members, Austin Harding, Victoria Meza, Jasamine Noory, Alfonso Velasquez, and Luis Velasco along with Santos were in attendance at the ceremony.

Brenden Theater is reserved for this event and they roll out the red carpet for the students along with a balloon sculpture, refreshments, a free movie and trophies.

PHAST is a youth coalition dedicated to bringing information and activities to their peers regarding the dangers of tobacco.

“Riverbank Unified School District (RUSD) did well at the county awards ceremony,” stated Santos. “I am so proud of the fact that two RUSD schools won out of the entire county.”