NORWICH – On Monday, four Norwich High School Reality Check students will travel to the state's capital to meet with lawmakers and discuss their efforts to reduce tobacco usage and advertisements in Chenango County.

NHS juniors Kristina Lamphere, Morgan Burdick, Steven King, and freshman Maddi Lamphere will stay the night in Albany on Monday before they meet with local elected officials Assemblyman Clifford Crouch and Assemblyman Gary Finch on Legislative Day in the Capitol Building on Tuesday.

"[Reality Check] is about trying to get the community to cut back on tobacco products and advertising for tobacco products," said Kristina Lamphere.

Since the beginning of the school year, NHS Reality Check youth have been organizing initiatives aimed at helping to achieve their goal of cutting back tobacco use in the area. On Tuesday, the students will discuss their progress with Assemblymen Crouch and Finch to help ensure funding for the local Bureau of Tobacco Control continues.

One Reality Check initiative students orchestrated was the flagging of cigarette butts in Kiwanis Park in Norwich to compare how well the city's voluntary tobacco prohibition in the parks has worked a year after its implementation. Kristina said she was pleasantly surprised to find only a third of the amount of cigarette butts in the park in November 2017 as it had the year prior.