Reality Check​ Youth Leaders Represent Central Islip & Brentwood

With back-to-school around the corner, Reality Check youth leaders from Central Islip and Brentwood have their sights set on reducing tobacco use amoung their fellow classmates this year. Central Islip resident Alex Cox (left) and Brentwood resident Kymberli Gomez Gonzales (right) joined Judith Montanan, Reality Check Specialist with the Tobacco Action Coalition of Long Island (TACLI) (center) for the annual Reality Check Youth Summit at Cazenovia College in Central New York. The students participated in leadership workshops and team building exercises with 150 other youth from around the state, learning how to raise awareness in their own communities about the impact tobacco marketing has on youth.

Cox is a recent graduate from St. John the Baptist in West Islip and incoming freshmen at Suny Oswego. Gonzales is an incoming freshmen at the Brentwood Freshmen Center.

Tobacco Action Coalition of Long Island is funded by the NYS Tobacco Control Program through a grant administered by the American Lung Association of the Northeast. TAC consists of a community engagement component and its youth action component branded as Reality Check LI. Our work focuses on establishing tobacco-free policies to make Long Island a healthier place to live. TAC also supplies free tobacco education and cessation literature to local agencies and schools.

Photo Credit: Erin Camp Photography/Reality Check NY