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Welcome to the November issue of The SADDvocate! Congratulations to all chapters that were busy last month with Red Ribbon Week and other activities - see the Spotlight on SADD Chapters further down in this issue to check out their exciting programs.
 Have you registered your SADD chapter this school year? ALL chapters are asked to register once each school year so that we know your chapter is active, and we have the current advisor's contact information. Registration takes just two minutes, can be done online, is completely free - there are no dues or membership fees - and you'll receive a chapter certificate and a free poster. So what are you waiting for? Click here to register now. Those chapters that registered after October 2 will receive their certificates in the mail in the next few days. Our goal is to ensure that every SADD chapter has the latest news, so we're counting on you to help spread the word about The SADDvocate. Please encourage all of your SADD chapter members to sign up on sadd.org, or send a list (spreadsheets preferred, with columns for first name, last name, and email address) to Chris Egan, SADD's Director of Field Services, at cegan@sadd.org. Sometimes school computer filters prevent students and advisors from seeing The SADDvocate properly, in full color with graphics. You can view every issue in our online archive. This issue will be posted to the archive later today.A good source of regular SADD news is our Facebook page. Please "like" our page today, and encourage your friends to do so as well! Links to all our social networking pages are on the bar at left. |
 | Spotlight on SADD Chapters
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This monthly column features the extraordinary activities and events SADD chapters are implementing across the country. Want to see your chapter in the Spotlight? Send news and a good group photo to cegan@sadd.org.  October was National Bullying Prevention Month, and many SADD chapters participated in activities. McKinley High School TeamSpirit/SADD from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, had a range of activities, from educating classmates through morning announcements, wearing orange ribbons on Unity Day, and having students sign a banner (pictured) committing themselves to stand up to bullying. The biggest event of the month for most chapters was Red Ribbon Week. There are simply far too many terrific chapter activities to highlight, but here are just a few interesting stories:  Marietta High School SADD from Marietta, Ohio, held a full week of activities, beginning with writing drug facts on the windows outside the school cafeteria, which students saw as they entered. They also held a raffle with the proceeds going to a local food pantry and called attention to the week by giving away promotional items like Frisbees and lanyards. They ended by asking students to sign a pledge to stay drug-free, which they posted in a school hallway (pictured).  Van-Far Jr./Sr. High School SADD from Vandalia, Missouri (pictured), held an entire week of activities as well - from trivia challenges to classroom decorating, clothing contests, fundraisers, and a community service project to collect food for a neighborhood food pantry. Perhaps their most unique activity was having chapter officers write short articles on drug prevention for the local newspaper, which published them along with a description of their Red Ribbon Week activities - click here to read their thoughts.  Century High School SADD from Bismarck, North Dakota, wasn't satisfied with simply raising awareness within their school. They spread the message to the state Capitol - tying red ribbons around the trees on the Capitol grounds to bring awareness to legislators and others. To view a news clip about their efforts that aired on KMOT, the NBC affiliate in Bismarck, click here. Congrats to these SADD students and chapters - and check back each month for more exciting news! Material from local newspapers and television stations was used to prepare a portion of this report. Click images for original articles/clips.
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| Contests, Grants, and Awards
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Check back every month in The SADDvocate to learn about new contests and grants your chapter can enter or apply for - and remember, your chances are better than you think! Here are just a few ideas.
 Act Out Loud is back for another year! Last year, Cookeville High School TEST (a SADD chapter) from Cookeville, Tennessee, took home the $10,000 grand prize - the third SADD chapter to win Act Out Loud! Registration is now open, and slots are filling up quickly, with more than 100 teams already registered. Why is Act Out Loud so popular? It's simple - your chapter can earn $1,000 - just for participating! $1,000 of free money, just for entering a contest and completing the five easy steps? That's right! We hear SADD chapters ask "What should we do?" and "How can we raise money?" all the time. Well, here's a way to check off both boxes! Here's how it works - register your team on the actoutloud.org website, and plan to hold a safe driving event next April or May. Just for doing that, you'll receive $300 and a toolkit packed with promotional items for your event! Then, complete each step by the deadline (the first deadline is December 16 to submit a poster design idea) - and your chapter will receive a total of $1,000 - just for participating! You'll also have a chance to win the $10,000 grand prize. So don't wait - register right now! Make sure you choose SADD in the "National Organization Your Team Represents" field.  Drinking alcohol before you're 21 is illegal and can seriously impact your health, your ability to get into college, and even future employment opportunities. It's just not worth it! So MADD asks in their Power of You(th) Video Contest, "If You Don't Drink Alcohol Today, What Could Your Tomorrow Be?" Answer the question with a 15-second Instagram video, and your 15 seconds could be worth $1,500! The contest winner AND the school that submits the most entries will EACH win $1,500! Submit your video by December 20 for your chance to win. Visit madd.org/youthvideo for more information and to enter.  Project Yellow Light is also back for another year. This scholarship contest challenges high school seniors or college students to create a 25- or 55-second video PSA to encourage your friends not to drive distracted and submit it by April 1. The grand prize is a $5,000 scholarship - and your ad will be turned into a PSA by the Ad Council and distributed to 1,600 TV stations nationwide! To learn more, visit projectyellowlight.com. |
| SADD Store - SADD Portable Charger
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 Give your life the boost it needs with this SADD-branded portable charger! Use the provided USB cable to charge the internal 2200 mAh battery (which stores enough power to run a device for up to 450 hours). Then use your own cable (USB to Lightning, 30-pin, or micro-USB connector) to charge your iPhone, iPod, smartphone, mp3 player, or other portable device on the go!
Offered in red or black, the SADD Portable Charger costs just $12.50 (plus shipping), making it an affordable (and useful!) gift. The charger is in stock and ships in 48-72 hours.
The SADD Store gives back 15% of every purchase to SADD National to support programs and services at no extra cost to you. Our SADD Store team is creative, committed, and open to helping your chapter any way possible. Invite your chapter members to like the SADD Store Facebook page to hear directly about new products, clearance sales, and promotions! |
| Programs and Resources
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As chapters recover from a busy October, here are some events coming up early next year that you can start planning.  SADD Shines Day, to be held Wednesday, February 5, 2014, is a day to celebrate what makes SADD special. It's a day to highlight all the ways SADD makes a difference in teen lives, and for SADD chapters all over the country to celebrate and shine together. We've chosen the theme "Youth Lighting the Way," and we've created a number of activities centered around making decorated lanterns to illustrate how SADD youth show the way to make their schools and communities better places to live. Members of the SADD National Student Leadership Council (SLC) are developing a resource kit for your use which will provide step-by-step instructions for activities you can use on SADD Shines Day. The program can be as simple or as involved as you like, and you'll be able to choose from a list of ideas - a tribute event, a walk, an art project, work with younger students, or even a fundraiser selling your decorated lanterns. Whatever you do, your chapter will demonstrate how SADD lights the way to help others make good choices for healthy lifestyles. Stay tuned - more information is coming next month. For now, make sure to mark February 5 on your calendar!  Another upcoming event is National Drug Facts Week, which will be held January 27 - February 2, 2014. This event, sponsored by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), is designed to empower teens to learn the scientific facts behind drug abuse and addiction. There are a range of activities your chapter can take on, such as having students take the online National Drug IQ Challenge, or focusing on prescription drug abuse with the Choose Your Path video series. Once your chapter is committed to an event, register it on the NDFW website so your event appears on the map!  Finally, many SADD chapters participate in Kick Butts Day, and the countdown has started to Kick Butts Day 2014, which will take place on March 19! On this day, chapters work to stand out, speak up, and seize control in the fight against Big Tobacco. Every year, tobacco kills more than 400,000 people - more than AIDS, alcohol, traffic crashes, illegal drugs, murders, and suicides combined. Your SADD chapter can organize an event and join the fight! Registration is now open, so make sure you visit the kickbuttsday.org website and get started with your planning now! |
| Help Support SADD!
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SADD National charges no dues or membership fees, and we don't often ask for your help. But here are a couple of ideas you can share with friends or family members to help support our nationwide movement.
 You've heard of Black Friday and Cyber Monday - what about Giving Tuesday? #GivingTuesday inspires a call to action to celebrate giving and encourage more, better, and smarter giving during the holiday season. This second-annual day of giving is just around the corner - Tuesday, December 3. Please consider supporting SADD by making a secure donation online at sadd.org. Then tell everyone you know about what you're doing and why. Join a national celebration of our country's great tradition of generosity.  Another simple way to support SADD is to install the We-Care Reminder in your internet browser. This simple plug-in automatically generates donations for SADD from 2,500 participating merchants (such as Bed Bath & Beyond or Eddie Bauer) when you shop online. You'll see a banner across the top of the screen or a brief pop-up when you visit a participating site that will donate a percentage of your purchase to SADD - at no cost to you! You only need to install the Reminder once and never need to remember to do anything else ever again - so won't you take just 30 seconds to install it right now? Visit sadd.we-care.com/getstarted right now. |
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| SADD National Conference
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 Registration is now open for the 2014 SADD National Conference, Life is a Jungle: Join the Expedition. The conference will be held at the Sheraton Premiere at Tysons Corner just outside Washington, DC, June 22-25, 2014! Besides the tremendous conference speakers, skill-building workshops, and fun activities, you'll also participate in a special rally on Capitol Hill and visit your legislators to press for SADD's legislative priorities.
Remember, we're offering an early-bird discount for those who register by March 15, 2014. The student rate (quad occupancy) will be $729 and the adult rate (double occupancy) will be $829 if you register by that date - and that rate covers the conference registration fee, three nights' hotel accommodations, on-site conference activities, and most meals.
 The 2014 conference has, for the first time, been added to the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) Approved List of Contests and Activities. This recognition may help your chapter more easily raise funds or obtain permission to attend the conference if school is still in session at the time of the conference.
Ready to register? Click here for the registration packet! |
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!
Sincerely,
Christopher Egan, Director of Field Services
SADD National |
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