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It's that time of year - please update your information now by clicking here. You'll receive a membership certificate for the year and a free gift!
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SADD Calendar
November
10-16 - Drowsy Driving Prevention Week
13 - Mix It Up at Lunch Day
16 - World Remembrance Day
20 - Great American Smokeout
December
All Month - Drunk and Drugged Driving (3D) Prevention Month
1 - World AIDS Day
January
All Month - National Mentoring Month, National Volunteer Blood Donor Month
18-24 - Healthy Weight Week
26-30 - No Name-Calling Week
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Greetings!
Welcome to another issue of The SADDvocate! We've got important news this month, and some new features, too! Check out the SADD Calendar on the left bar with some upcoming events, and our new Chapter Toolbox column below. Here's a reminder to encourage all students in your chapter to sign up for The SADDvocate - just have
them visit the sadd.org
homepage to join! If it's easier, you can send a list of names and
e-mail addresses for your chapter to Chris Egan, SADD's Director of
Field Services, at cegan@sadd.org.  If they want to see what it's all about before signing up, you can forward this newsletter to them by clicking this graphic. We also want all advisors and students to join our social networks - click the
links on the left bar to join our Facebook group or MySpace page. Our goal is 1,000 Facebook friends by January - help us get there by joining us online today! |
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2009 SADD National Conference News!
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 We're excited to announce that the 2009 SADD National Conference, Climbing the Hill, will be held at the Bethesda North Marriott in Bethesda, Maryland July 12 - 15, 2009! The ground package price is $699 for students and $799 for adults. This package includes hotel accommodations for three nights, conference meals, all general sessions and workshops, and all costs associated with off-site events taking place during the conference. The SADD National Conference is a fantastic opportunity to network with more than 500 youth and adults, all committed to the prevention of destructive decisions in their schools and communities. This year, we have the unique opportunity to return to the Washington, D.C., area to focus strongly on advocacy efforts and prevention education and explore Capitol Hill! Registration materials and more detailed information will be available in early December at sadd.org, so be sure to check back then for additional information and to register your group. The conference will be preceded by a special two-day SADD SPEAKs (Students for Policy, Education, Advocacy, and Knowledge) advocacy training for a small number of students selected from an application pool. More information and details will be coming soon. We hope you're able to join us in July, and we encourage you to start your fund-raising today! Check out sadd.org next week for tips and ideas to help get you to the conference. Hope to see you in July 2009! |
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SADD Speaker Series - 10% Discount!
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 Now is a great time to think about booking a presentation for the spring. Book an event by January 1 and you'll receive a 10% discount! Take this opportunity to bring SADD Chairman and CEO Stephen Wallace, author of the compelling new book Reality Gap: Alcohol, Drugs, and Sex - What Parents Don't Know and Teens Aren't Telling, to your school or community.
Traveling to schools across the country, Stephen has spoken to thousands of teens and parents through three SADD Speaker Series presentations. With familyfocus, he brings parents and teens together to explore how to improve family communication. In the schoolspeaker presentation, he talks with students about empowering themselves and making healthy choices. And Stephen shares SADD's groundbreaking, original research about the
real world of today's teenagers with educators and other adults in the unique teenstoday presentation.
Contact Stacey Hart at 1-877-SADD-INC (723-3462) or shart@sadd.org for more information about any of these presentations or to book an event.
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Check Out These Opportunities!
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 The high school dropout rate has reached epidemic proportions in our country. Every school day, more than 7,000 young men and women give up on their high school education and, in many cases, on themselves. That translates to one in three teens in our country who gives up on his or her dreams. These teens are often just like you and, for one reason or another, fall onto a path that leads to dropping out. You have the opportunity to support your peers by creating videos communicating your own message about the importance of graduation, support, and dropout prevention while also encouraging your classmates to do the same. Adobe Youth Voices (AYV) and the Ad Council have partnered in a program that invites teens to create a 2-5 minute video that focuses on a specific aspect of the dropout issue. You can choose from a wide range of topics or create your own. It doesn't matter if you are at risk of dropping out yourself or don't even know anyone who is at risk. Everyone can make a video and, most important, make a difference. Not only will the videos be viewed by a large online audience (posted on the Boost campaign website at boostup.org and on profiles on Facebook, MySpace, and YouTube), but you will also have the opportunity to impact the high school dropout crisis in our country by helping to create a community of support for teens. To learn more about this opportunity, visit the Boost campaign website.  Last month we told you about the FACE "Do What You Love" competition. SADD partners with FACE on the Take It Back! movement, and the "Life at its Best - Add Nothing" campaign is one part of that movement. FACE wants you to tell them what you do sober - see the addnothing.org website for examples. FACE will pick one idea to add to the campaign, and the winner will receive recognition and Take It Back! Gear Packs. FACE now has a Tip Sheet with ideas for the competition - click here to download it. Hurry, because the deadline to enter is December 5! |
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Programs and Resources
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 A variety of classroom teaching resources about teen driving safety are available free for SADD chapters from the National Road Safety Foundation (NRSF), a nonprofit group that for 40 years through education has been promoting safer roads.
The programs are based around a series of award-winning short films that are supplemented by ready-to-use PowerPoint presentations and discussion guides. Subjects include impaired driving, speed and aggression, traumatic brain injuries caused by traffic crashes, and drowsy driving - all of which are issues of particular relevance to teen drivers.
Teenage drivers are at high risk to be involved in drowsy driving crashes, which experts believe are 100% preventable. The newest program from NRSF addresses drowsy driving by showing real-life examples of young people who drove while fatigued, how to recognize a drowsy driver, and what friends can do to protect drivers from the risk of fatigued driving.
The films are available on VHS or CD-ROM, and all materials can be downloaded from nationalroadsafety.org - click on "Free Traffic Safety Programs." For more information, contact Michelle Anderson at (212) 837-4854 or nrsf@nationalroadsafety.org.
Don't forget that Drowsy Driving Prevention Week will happen November 10-16, 2008. SADD partners with the National Sleep Foundation in this important and often overlooked issue. Visit drowsydriving.org for resources and activity ideas, and begin planning your chapter's activities for this week now!
 Remember that Thursday, November 13, 2008, is Mix It Up at Lunch Day! This event, which is happening at thousands of schools across the country, is designed to get students to meet others and break down cliques and stereotypes by having everyone sit at different spots during lunch for one day. We encourage SADD chapters to lead the planning of this event if it's not already happening at your school. Click here for more information, and make sure to check out all the resources available - free brochures, year-round activity plans to follow up on the event, and downloadable posters and stickers.
 World Day of Remembrance for victims of traffic crashes, which each year is celebrated the third Sunday of November, is Sunday, November 16 this year. Events are happening around the world, with candlelight vigils and other activities to draw attention to the enormous number of deaths caused by traffic crashes. Your chapter might consider holding an event on this day. The World Health Organization has prepared a booklet to help plan an event - click here to download it.
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Chapter Spotlight: Northwestern SADD
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In the Spotlight this month is Northwestern High School SADD in Springfield, Ohio.
Northwestern SADD was recently recognized by the Ohio School Board Association with the "Outstanding Multi-District Impact Program" Award for their spring 2008 Prevention Convention. Pictured above are chapter officers and advisors accepting the award.
Northwestern SADD created the Prevention Convention, a regional prevention conference, to bring together area schools for an educational conference about how to encourage students to make positive and healthy decisions. Other area SADD chapters and schools without SADD chapters attended, and the event was a huge success. Northwestern SADD has another distinction as well. The chapter president is Ricky Birt (pictured above), who also serves on the SADD National Student Leadership Council (see his Chapter Toolbox article below!). Northwestern SADD is already busily planning next year's Prevention Convention, reports SADD Advisor Miranda Cromwell. Congratulations to Northwestern High School SADD for all their hard work and success! If you'd like to see YOUR chapter featured in the Spotlight, be sure to let us know what you're doing! Send news to Chris Egan, SADD National Director of Field Services, at cegan@sadd.org or the mailing address at the bottom of this newsletter. |
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SOY/SLC Applications Available
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The 2009-2010 SADD National Student of the Year (SOY) and Student Leadership Council (SLC) applications are now available. Applicants must be a current junior or senior in high school.
States with SADD State Coordinators often have a process for nominating one student from the state to the SLC or as SOY. If you're in a state with a State Coordinator, you should contact him or her directly to learn if such a process exists. Contact information is available here.
If you're in a state without a State Coordinator, you can request an application by contacting Ashley Conners at 1-877-SADD-INC (723-3462) or at aconners@sadd.org. Ashley is also available for any questions about the process.
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SADD Store Reminders
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 Reality Gap: Alcohol, Drugs, and Sex - What Parents Don't Know and Teens Aren't Telling, the compelling new book by SADD Chairman and CEO Stephen Wallace, is available at the SADD Store.
Consider purchasing and donating a copy of the book to your school's library or media center. Reality Gap also makes a great holiday gift for a friend, neighbor, co-worker, or loved one.
Reality Gap can be purchased at the SADD Store for $16.95 (plus shipping). A portion of the proceeds benefits SADD.
 The SADD Manual - a one-volume, 225-page binder - is a must-have for every SADD chapter. The Manual has been so popular that the SADD Store sold out last month! Manuals are now back in stock and are available at a cost of $64.95 plus shipping.
For more information or to order Reality Gap or the SADD Manual, visit saddstore.com, call the SADD Store at 1-800-394-0090, or e-mail saddstore@workflowone.com.
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Chapter Toolbox
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 Each month, a member of the SADD National Student Leadership Council (SLC) will write a column designed to help SADD chapters - activity ideas, meeting tips, and other useful topics. We hope you enjoy this new feature - please let us know what topics you're interested in seeing covered!
 Hello all, I'm Ricky Birt, a member of the SLC from Northwestern High School in Springfield, Ohio, where I've served as president of our SADD chapter for the past two years.
Across the country, impaired, reckless, and distracted driving remain serious problems. On Friday, December 5, the state of Ohio will celebrate Lights on for Life Day, a one-day event to draw attention to this issue. On this day, Ohioans will be asked to drive with their headlights on all day.
We've found support for this campaign across the state. Students will place window decals to show the community that they refuse to be another statistic. Local law enforcement are using the decals in their cruisers as well. The Ohio State Senate declared December 5th Reckless Driving Prevention Day.
We'll hold a community celebration the evening of December 4th at Northwestern High School as a kickoff event. We welcome any SADD chapters who'd like to attend, and if you'd like to get involved in the campaign in some way, please feel free to contact me. By working together, we can take a stand and reduce these alarming statistics.
For more activity ideas, check out Real Life SADD. You can browse through activities from our past "Activity of the Year" award winners, and if you've got something to share, it's easy to upload your idea for other chapters to see!
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Shop the SADD eMall Today!
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 The day after Thanksgiving, known as Black Friday, is one of the two biggest shopping days of the year - the other being the day after Christmas. Avoid the Black Friday crowds and do your shopping online via the SADD eMall. Not only will you save yourself time by not standing in long checkout lines, but you can also help SADD at the same time!
Remember, when you shop at online stores through the SADD eMall at sadd-emall.com, a portion of your purchase will support SADD programs and activities. Retailers automatically generate funds for SADD that average 3 percent (and can be as much as 25 percent) of your purchase - all at no extra cost to you!
Are you gearing up to visit family and friends for the holidays? Check out Expedia, Kayak.com, or Travelocity in the SADD eMall to make all your travel arrangements. If traveling is not part of the plan this year, why not send a gift to show those far away you're still thinking about them? Visit the Harry & David, Dean & DeLuca, or Giftbaskets.com stores in the SADD eMall for gourmet food gifts.
Helping SADD while making your everyday purchases is easy. Simply visit sadd-emall.com, click on the store of your choice, and do your shopping. Whatever your needs may be, there's likely a store in the SADD eMall that will have what you're looking for. Some stores offer special discounts only in their online stores - check out Home Decorators Collection, DIRECTV, Home Depot, Sears, and Fingerhut in the SADD eMall for special Web-only deals!
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Don't forget that the SADD National Field Services
Department is here to provide help and support to chapters, especially those in
states without State Coordinators. Just call 1-877-SADD-INC or e-mail cegan@sadd.org for service.
Please spread the word about
this newsletter! You can sign up to receive it on the sadd.org website, and we'd like as many students and
advisors as possible to sign up. The SADDvocate will be
published every month during the school year, with no issues in July or August. An archive of past issues of The SADDvocate is available here.
If you'd like to forward the newsletter
to others, please DON'T forward it within your e-mail program, which distorts
the formatting, links, and graphics. Instead, use the "Forward This Issue to a Friend" link at
the top or bottom left of this newsletter.
The SADDvocate is designed to be visually appealing and colorful, with graphics and photos throughout. Make sure you are enabling images in your e-mail program to see it properly. If you receive only a text version of the newsletter, ask your IT person at school how you can receive HTML messages to get the full benefit of this newsletter.
Thanks again
for all you do for SADD!
Sincerely,
Christopher Egan, Director of Field Services
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