Students at Andalusia Elementary School filed into their classrooms Thursday dressed as characters ranging from Little Red Riding Hood to Nancy Drew – but it wasn’t necessarily because of the Halloween holiday.

Samantha Russell, K2 counselor for AES, said the kids dressed up as their favorite characters from a book as part of national Red Ribbon Week, a drug awareness campaign.

“Today is ‘Show Good Character Day,’” Russell said. “The kids have been participating in dress up days all week, and (the day’s) theme (was) done in conjunction with our library because we will have our book fair next week.”

Russell said dressing up is just another way to help kids enjoy Red Ribbon Week, the five days set aside to teach students drug awareness.

“Every year we hold the ‘Too Good for Drugs’ program, which is part of the Mendez Foundation,” she said. “It helps teach the kids about the dangers of drug use.

“During Red Ribbon Week, we do a lot of different things,” she said. “Our teachers really participate too, and we also collect food for Crossover Ministries in Opp, which is a drug and alcohol recovery center.”

Russell said this year’s Red Ribbon Week will conclude today with ‘Team Up Against Drugs Day,’ when students will be allowed to wear shirts supporting their favorite sports teams.