Healthy lifestyles advocate and media personality "Cowboy Ted" Hallisey will be at the Black Hills Stock Show all day today and Sunday to talk to children and families about the importance of a healthy, tobacco-free lifestyle.

He urges kids to "give tobacco the boot," especially the smokeless tobacco often advertised at rodeos.

He will also present school assemblies Monday and Tuesday, Jan. 28 and 29, at several area elementary schools, including Rapid Valley, Black Hawk, Pinedale and Corral Drive, and will serve as a spokesman for Tobacco-Free Rapid City's volunteer coalition.

Cowboy Ted is a radio personality and nationally known rodeo journalist. The veteran educator has visited with more than 150,000 students throughout the United States. His rodeo stories have appeared in numerous publications nationwide. He was invited to Rapid City to help inform residents about good health and encourage them to lead a tobacco-free lifestyle.

He has been an advisor for the Buck Tobacco Sponsorship program and the National Tobacco-Free Rodeo program. He also serves on the National Association of Local Boards of Health's Tobacco Prevention Committee and is a two-term member on the board of directors for the Southwest Utah Public Health Department.

During the assemblies, he will talk to youths about the benefits of good health and the dangers of tobacco.

The well-known cowboy educator also teaches students how to rope the indoor bull during his visit. There is an emphasis on reading and exercise, along with good nutrition, hand-washing and oral-health habits that lead to a comprehensive program of good health for kids.

For more information about Cowboy Ted's programs, go to his Web site at www.cowboyted.com.

Tobacco Use in South Dakota

High school students who smoke

28.2% (13,000)

Male high school students who use smokeless or spit tobacco

20.0% (females use much lower)

Kids (under 18) who become new daily smokers each year

1,300

Kids exposed to secondhand smoke at home

45,000

Packs of cigarettes bought or smoked by kids each year

2.6 million

Adults in South Dakota who smoke

20.4 percent (119,700)

Source: Cowboy Ted