Magi Linscott, a Junior at Pace High School, was elected by her peers to serve as a Region 1 representative on the Students Working Against Tobacco (SWAT) Youth Advocacy Board at the regional SWAT meeting in Orlando, July 24-26. She was also selected to be a Recorder for the board. This is the sixth year that a Santa Rosa County student has been elected to the board. Linscott has been involved in the program for two years and serves as the chairperson of Santa Rosa SWAT. She is one of three representatives from Region 1. "Magi took over the position as county chair the middle of last year," said Robbie Leggett, tobacco prevention specialist with the Santa Rosa County Health Department. “She has really been a role model for the other students." "I'm really honored, thankful and blessed to be elected to serve on the board," Linscott said. "It puts me in a great position to take a stand against the tobacco industry's deceptive marketing tactics. If you look at their colorful ads and the fact that they are promoting candy flavored tobacco products, you can see that they are targeting youth. Adults aren't interested in those products." The Youth Advocacy Board is comprised of students from the Tobacco Prevention Program’s four state regions. The board provides direction and education on tobacco issues and teaches students skills that will empower them to change local tobacco norms. The group holds monthly conference calls to plan regional and state initiatives and provide relevant updates to the Tobacco Advisory Council.
This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: Pace student elected to SWAT youth advisory board