Hey there, SADD Students!  My name is Deanna Boucher, and I'm honored to serve as your 2011-2012 SADD National Student of the Year.  I'm from Lowell, Massachusetts, and I'm currently beginning my freshman year at Marywood University in Scranton, Pennsylvania, majoring in fine arts/painting.

Can you believe school has already started?  I have to admit, this is my favorite time of the year - there's so much energy and excitement and the chance for new beginnings.

I hope your SADD chapter is reaching out to new students, increasing its membership, and showing off its SADD spirit!  Check out the Programs and Resources section below for some great upcoming events your chapter can get involved with, including our new SADD Serves program.

I believe that if we work together we can really make a difference in the world, and I love hearing about what chapters are doing!  Keep in touch with SADD National through Facebook, Twitter, and sadd.org, and keep reading The SADDvocate, which is full of useful information each month.

I wish you all the best as your chapters get this important work underway.  Let's have a great year!

With the start of a new school year, we have lots and lots of new programs, upcoming events, and other resources for your chapter.  Read on!

2011-2012 represents SADD's 30th Anniversary of empowering youth to keep their peers safe, and we're celebrating for the whole year!  Click here for a year-long calendar that offers ideas and fun activities we hope your chapter will implement - pick just one or do them all!  We're hoping all chapters will celebrate our 30th birthday at 11:30 a.m. on November 30 (11/30/11).

As part of the celebration, we've kicked off a new "Friends of SADD" fundraising campaign.  In honor of our 30th year of service, donate $30 to become a "friend" and you'll receive a special SADD decal for your car, business, or home to show your support!  In December, we'll hold a contest with cash prizes for chapters that help recruit new Friends of SADD!  Want to become a friend right now?  Click here to donate online.

In recognition of the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, SADD National is proud to introduce SADD Serves: Youth Giving Back, a community service effort for chapters.  Consisting of a planning guide packed with ideas, SADD Serves is a great way for your chapter to connect with the community and even draw new members into your chapter.  You can download the program by clicking here.

Create a BUZZ in your school!  Buzzcheck is a social marketing campaign around underage drinking run by youth for youth.  Buzzcheck's goal is to encourage students to question common myths and assumptions about teen drinking - including the impact of peer pressure and the social consequences of drinking.  The campaign includes a website, a DVD with campaign videos, posters and pencils to promote the campaign, and a discussion guide, and costs just $75.  To learn more, click here.

October 31 - November 6 is National Drug Facts Week, sponsored by our partners at the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA).  We encourage all chapters to run an event this week, in which teen questions about drugs are answered by scientists and researchers working on drug abuse prevention.  NIDA has an event toolkit and materials available, including free copies of the "Shatter the Myths" booklet for your use.  Check it out by clicking here, and don't forget to register your event to receive additional support and resources.

NIDA is also introducing a new site focused on prescription drug abuse, called PEERx.  The website features activity ideas, downloads, and an interactive video tool that lets you play the main character, make choices, and then watch the consequences play out.  Teen prescription drug abuse is a growing problem, and NIDA developed PEERx with SADD's help - members of the SADD National Student Leadership Council and national conference attendees offered feedback and helped refine the website.  Check it out today!

The Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University has been promoting Family Day since 2001.  Celebrated on Monday, September 26 this year, Family Day encourages families to eat dinner together, because compelling research shows that when they do, the children are less likely to smoke, drink alcohol, or do drugs.  Many restaurants are offering specials on this day for families that choose not to cook or want to enjoy a night out.  Your chapter can work with local restaurants, encouraging them to offer special discounts or sponsor a chapter fundraising campaign on this particular night.  For more information, click here.

Tuesday, October 18 is Mix It Up at Lunch Day.  Sponsored by Teaching Tolerance, Mix It Up at Lunch Day is a one-day event where students are asked to sit at different tables and with other students than they normally would.  This "mixing up" can increase compassion and understanding and reduce bullying and cliques.  We encourage all SADD chapters to take part in this important and eye-opening activity.  Click here for more information.

 

Last September and this past April, many SADD chapters helped promote National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day, when members of the public were encouraged to safely turn in unwanted, unused, or expired prescription drugs.  The event was such a success that the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is sponsoring a third National Take-Back Day on Saturday, October 29 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. local time.  Police departments are typically the drop-off point.  Visit the website to check if there's already a drop-off point near you.  If not, contact your local police chief or sheriff to see if they'd be willing to participate.  Your chapter can also tie in awareness about prescription drug abuse to your promotion of this event.

Last week was Suicide Prevention Week, and Illinois SADD created a simple activity to spread awareness.  During the week, students wrote "prevention" or "in remembrance" on the inside of their wrists.  This generated conversation about this important topic and offered a chance for SADD students to point students needing help to local resources.  While Suicide Prevention Week is over, your chapter can undertake this activity at any time.

Many SADD chapters are already busily preparing for Red Ribbon Week in late October.  A good place to start your planning is by downloading SADD's free Think About It ... Homecoming & Red Ribbon Season campaign.  You'll find activity ideas, templates for press releases, and more.

Your next step is to order SADD's Red Ribbon Supply Kit from the SADD Store.  The kit contains supplies you'll need to promote Red Ribbon Week in your school - it includes a large vinyl banner (with grommets so it's easy to reuse each year!), plenty of SADD-imprinted red ribbon, pledge cards, table tents, balloons, pencils, and more!  Many of the kit items are also available for purchase separately. 

Visit saddstore.org for the kit and all the other fantastic SADD items - or order something custom-printed just for your chapter!

The 2011 SADD National Conference, Passport to Adventure: Cleared for Takeoff, held in Chicago, Illinois, on June 26-29, was a huge success!

Special thanks to our sponsors and supporters, especially TOYOTA for sponsoring the memorable "SADD in Chicago" off-site river cruise and fun evening at the world-famous Navy Pier.  Thanks to DCH Auto Group, the Global Road Safety Foundation and its Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011-2020, the FDA/Center for Tobacco Products, and Cars.com for their generous conference sponsorships.  We also extend thanks to our many exhibitors who shared valuable information and resources with conference attendees to use in their prevention programming.

Click here to view highlights of this year's conference or order a DVD of the conference slideshow produced by SADD's fabulous photo/videographer Cory Erickson.

Stay tuned - we're planning to make an announcement on the location of the 2012 SADD National Conference in the weeks ahead.  We expect to take our unique youth conference to the West Coast next summer!

 

In the Spotlight this month are Freehold Township High School SADD, Millburn High School SADD, and Old Bridge High School SADD - all from New Jersey.

 

These SADD chapters are among a number sponsored by SADD's Regional Vehicle Dealer Partner, DCH Auto Group.  DCH auto dealerships in California, New Jersey, New York, and Connecticut help support SADD chapters at local high schools.

 

The three SADD chapters teamed up with the New Jersey Teen Safe Driving Coalition to present workshops at the first-ever Teen Safe Driving Summit, GDL4U: Good Driving for Life in New Jersey.  The purpose of the summit was to help teens get the facts about New Jersey's Graduated Driver License law and learn how to leverage it to build personal skills and improve safety.

The SADD chapters led workshops on the four key elements of the GDL law - passengers, driving at night, cell phone use/texting, and safety belts.  To appeal to teens and keep the workshops exciting, these youth leaders used not only posters and PowerPoint presentations, but also glow sticks, toys, and video games in their workshops.  Pictured above, SADD students use the Mario Kart game to demonstrate the distracting effect of passengers on teen drivers.

More than 200 teens, parents, educators, and safety advocates representing 16 different counties attended the summit, and SADD students received rave reviews for their workshops!  To see more pictures from the summit, visit facebook.com/GDL4U. 

Congratulations to Freehold Township, Millburn, and Old Bridge SADD for their efforts - and special thanks to DCH Auto Group for its amazing commitment to SADD and keeping teens safe!

If you'd like to see your chapter featured in the Spotlight, send news and a good group photo to Chris Egan at cegan@sadd.org.

Bridgestone is offering a "Road Show Rally" featuring a traffic safety quiz game show for the entire school, special guests, and a tire-pressure safety check.  You can bring the Road Show Rally to your school and win $5,000 for your traffic safety efforts through this video contest.  Just make a video between 30 seconds and two minutes explaining why the Rally should come to your school.  The deadline to enter is October 7.  Click here for more information.

As part of National Drug Facts Week, MusiCares and the GRAMMY Foundation are sponsoring a music video/songwriting contest.  In your video or song/rap, spread a positive message about healthy choices or the dangers of drug abuse.  Winners receive a cash prize, and the first-place winner gets a trip to Los Angeles to hang out backstage before the GRAMMY Awards!  To learn more, click here.

Remember 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, ext. 223 or email fieldservices@sadd.org for help!

Thanks for reading this issue of The SADDvocate, and thanks for all the work you do in your SADD chapters!