MASON CITY, IA - Seeing your name on a grave marker may be startling, but some St. Ansgar students say it's sending an important warning about tobacco use.
The student group "JEL" or "Just Eliminate Lies" is working to educate the community on tobacco statistics. This week at the high school they are putting up paper crosses in the gym with student’s names on them.
JEL student Hannah Hemann, says there are 12 put up every day because that's how many people die daily from tobacco related illnesses.
"It's kind of interesting to see people's reactions like, oh I died today. They weren’t expecting it at all. The numbers are crazy like if 12 people die in Iowa every day how many people die in a year in Iowa?”
By Friday the number of deaths will match the number of students in the senior year. They are planning an assembly to where all the seniors will stand and the school can actually see the number of people who die each week.
