Horizon´s Freshman class, faculty, and journalism students had the opportunity to watch an incredible assembly presented by Kyle Wimmer on January 30th, 2025 in the auditorium. Kyle Wimmer is an art teacher at Mountain Range High School, just down the road from Horizon.
Wimmer talked to the freshman class about vaping and addictions, to collect as many vapes as possible (punitive-free) so that they may be properly disposed of via Vape Aware. He outlined his mission of the FOUR 24’s: “To motivate, encourage, incentivize, educate and support students to go 24 hours, 24 days, 24 weeks and the remainder of 2024 vape and substance free. Each milestone a student hits, they will earn a new colored bracelet.”
During the presentation, he shared his personal experience with addiction and shared facts about vaping, using stats like, “Only 5% who attempt to quit on their own are successful, and 75% relapse after the first week.” In his presentation, he pulled the attention of the younger generation by using photos and memes of things that this generation would understand.
Before coming to our school, he had a similar presentation with his school about vaping and addiction. But, he called in famous YouTuber D’Aydrian Harding who advocates for “staying sober.” D’Aydrian has become a youth role model for those who are struggling with sobriety. Mr. Wimmer shared his own story of addiction and the impacts it had left on not only his personal life but his family as well. He also told us about the problems he had faced with addiction and his representation of “Rock Bottom” and he showed that being at that point can be immensely heartbreaking once you find out that you are empty and that your addiction has overcome your life. He also has in mind that people especially high schoolers like to act and feel cool and they resort to trying vaping and then fall into the addiction trap that nicotine and other substances all have in common.
It was truly inspiring to see someone so passionate about protecting and saving our youth from early life addiction. What was especially inspiring was Mr. Wimmer´s method of providing resources for his students and other teenagers who were struggling. Mr. Wimmer offered students a safe space to dispose of/turn in addictive substances in a guilt and discipline-free environment.
During the assembly, Mr. Wimmer had a student from Horizon’s Sophomore class, Jonathan, come up on stage and speak about his own experiences with addiction and mental health. Jonathan talked about his past, his addictions, the things that had gotten him hooked, and his past visits to the hospital that helped guide him toward sobriety. His story was extremely tragic, having lost a loved one which led to him using marijuana as a coping mechanism until it became a hazard for his health both mentally and physically. He had been previously on probation, and just a little while ago got his ankle monitor removed for him having managed to stay sober. While Jonathan was speaking about his own experiences with addiction he shared that when you surround yourself with people that “you like/think are cool” you start to become that person in many ways.
After John shares his anecdote, Wimmer ends it with a powerful metaphor on how a bison doesn’t run away from a storm when a storm appears. Instead of running through the commotion bison choose to find power, light, or joy within the struggle. When a cow sees a storm they run away and hide because of immense fear of what could happen. This metaphor explains and sets apart some ways that people may manage their problems in life, and how someone can overcome addiction by attacking the problem itself down to the root cause. The feeling we can relate to the cow is, ”The fear of the unknown”
Mr. Wimmer discussed a few ways ¨Big Vape¨ companies try to manipulate youths into trying nicotine and marijuana products. Wimmer used many examples of how these vape pens are targeted not towards adults but towards children including showing us how they are hidden in things like working pens and car key holders. He also said that because there are so many of these brands it makes it easy for students to gain access to them because they are cheap. The people selling them also known as “Plugs” do not care about the harm they are causing. As previously mentioned, Kyle Wimmer is an art teacher at Mountain Range, he used his passion for helping those struggling like he previously had, and his art passion to create meaningful art to spread awareness. One of these pieces that particularly stood out to us was a Saran Wrap sculpture. The sculpture was a human-wrapped Saran Wrap sculpture that was then filled with various dead vapes and carts. The symbolism from this piece stuck with us, we felt like it brought home the message of how deeply entangled these addictions can become within us. A shocking part of the piece to us was how much the vapes had filled the sculpture, the disposed of vapes filled up to the sculpture’s mid-calf to lower knee. Mr. Wimmer offered students a safe space to dispose of/turn in addictive substances in a guilt and discipline-free environment. These disposed vapes were used in these sculptures.
Overall, Mr. Wimmer´s presentation created a significant impact on the audience, not only was it entertaining, but also incredibly informative. We appreciate that Mr. Wimmer didn´t sugarcoat the facts. Addiction is a dangerous thing and should be discussed in that same formality. The assembly was incredibly moving and inspiring while giving helpful resources for students in the audience who may struggle with addiction. On behalf of Horizon´s journalism team and student body, this presentation was extremely insightful and has left a positive impact on us students at Horizon High School.
If you would like more information about Four 24’s click the link below:
