More than half the student body at Dayton High School has pledged this spring to steer clear of alcohol, and close to 60 adults in the community have promised not to provide alcohol to minors.

"It's exciting," said Dayton junior Nicole Lambert, who is leading the youth component of "Let's Draw the Line" in Columbia County through her internship at Blue Mountain Counseling.

"Let's Draw the Line" is a campaign through the Washington State Coalition to Reduce Underage Drinking. The aim is to "Draw the Line" between underage youth and alcohol through projects that raise awareness among adults in the community about the state's new outdoor alcohol advertising restrictions, which limit outdoor alcohol ads, and get the message across that providing alcohol to minors carries severe legal penalties (up to $5,000 and a year in jail).

Of the 185 students at Dayton High, about 107 have signed commitment cards stating they will not drink. And close to 40 students, primarily those in student leadership positions between grades 7-12, are taking an active role in the Draw the Line campaign.

"The other kids are inquisitive," said high school principal Andy Maheras. "They want to know what 'Draw the Line' stands for. And as we get more events going, more kids are getting involved."

Peggy Gutierrez, who came onboard as prevention specialist with Blue Mountain Counseling in Dayton last April, is working with Lambert, Maheras, the hospital and other youth and adults to coordinate the campaign locally.

It was Gutierrez, whose job is specifically to develop and implement programs designed to reduce adolescent substance abuse in the county, who took a group of students to a state prevention summit in October and found out about the Draw the Line campaign. When she got back, she applied for the stipend and got Lambert onboard to help do the footwork and draw in the youth.

"Risk factors occur at a community level, within the school, between individuals, and families," Gutierrez said. "The big thing now is to address the issue at an environmental level. If you can change the norm in an environment where underage drinking is acceptable, then you impact a lot more people than if you just target one segment of the population."

Through Draw the Line, Dayton teens and social workers like Gutierrez and Jody Martin, with the Columbia Cares Coalition, have designed programs and activities intended to address that broad spectrum.

Last week, teens placed a blue ribbon across the front of the Columbia County Courthouse lawn on Main Street and posed for group photos with county commissioners, city leaders and other officials.

"That blue line out in front of the courthouse has caused a buzz in the community," Gutierrez said. "We want people to see it and wonder what it is. The Draw the Line campaign is about not crossing that line. If you're an adult, we're just asking that you don't provide alcohol to minors, and if you're a youth, don't cross the line and consume alcohol."

Columbia County youth alcohol use rates are higher than state averages "quite significantly," Gutierrez said, according to the 2008 data.

After spring break, students at the middle and high schools will install blue tape on the sidewalks between the street and the high school and between the middle and high schools. Students who have signed commitment cards will be able to sign the blue line around campus. The students hope to leave the line up through prom and until graduation, two big times of the school year when underage drinking frequently occurs.

"We recognize that we'll probably have some kids who mock it or make fun of it, tear it up," Gutierrez said, "But it's just about getting it down and increasing the awareness."

Another big project the kids have been working on that should raise more community awareness is a vinyl billboard that will go up before the end of the month on Highway 12 going out of Dayton.

The billboard will show photos of close to 30 local kids who signed commitment cards and agreed to be photographed. A blue line will be woven around these kids, and on the bottom it will say, "Let's Draw the Line Between Alcohol and Youth." The Dayton Mercantile, Young Life and Vestas were financial sponsors of the vinyl, while Lemar Outdoor Advertising has donated the space.

The campaign will culminate later this month with a town hall meeting, at 7 p.m. on April 14 in the Liberty Theater, organized and hosted by Dayton teens.

The target audience for this meeting, entitled "It's Never Too Late to Learn to Draw the Line," is adults in the community. County prosecutor Rea Culwell will explain the criminal and civil liability to adults who furnish alcohol to minors. A special guest speaker will tell how alcohol use hurts families. And the new, 2010 data and underage alcohol use will be revealed. Attendees will have a chance to sign commitment cards, too.

Dayton teens might also get to present their project at the state spring forum on May 19. They would present with 200 other high school students from all over the state.

The campaign has been a boon to community prevention efforts, Gutierrez said. "Having the internship and this program has really done a lot to help develop those relationships between my program and the youth of the community," she said. "Does that mean we're going to have 100 percent success at stopping underage drinking after prom? Probably not. But if we can reduce the number of adults buying alcohol and increase the number of kids saying, 'No, I'm not going to drink,' then we have succeeded."

Individuals and businesses who want to show support for the Draw the Line campaign can visit www.Letsdrawtheline.org.