|
Donate Now!
Help Support SADD today with an online donation.
|
|
State SADD Conferences
Pennsylvania SADD
State Conferences
Seven Springs, PA
November 18, 2014
West Virginia SADD
November 14-16, 2014
Ripley, WVMissouri SADD
November 18-19, 2014
Lake Ozark, MO
|
|
Regional Vehicle
Dealer Partner
|
Did you receive this newsletter from a friend? Click below to receive your own copy!
 |
|
|
Welcome to another issue of The SADDvocate! Chapters are recovering from a busy October as the holidays approach. There's lots of important news we want to share with you this month, so please read on!  Remember, ALL SADD chapters must renew their registration each school year. This is the only way we know that the chapter is still running and that we have the correct advisor contact information. Registration is free and takes two minutes online at sadd.org - and we'll send you a certificate and a poster as a gift once you renew. Please, if you haven't already, will you take two minutes to renew your registration now? Thanks to the many chapters that have already registered for this year! 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. |
 | SADD National News Update |
There's quite a bit happening at SADD National, and we wanted to make sure all of you were up to date with the latest news.  After 15 years at the helm, Penny Wells will be stepping down as SADD's President & CEO at the end of the year. Penny has worked tirelessly to help grow and strengthen SADD; form important corporate, nonprofit, and government partnerships; and keep SADD current - addressing emerging issues such as texting while driving, which SADD first identified as a problem nearly a decade ago. She's mentored countless SLC and SPEAKs students; established an advocacy presence in Washington, DC; built strong relationships with state coordinators and advisors; and she will be sorely missed. You'll have the chance to make a donation to recognize Penny as part of our year-end appeal, which you'll hear more about soon. Do you have a favorite story, memory, photo, or simply a message of thanks for Penny? Send them to fieldservices@sadd.org and we'll compile them into a memory book for her. Penny's departure means that SADD National is now searching for a new President & CEO. The job posting can be found here. Please spread the word about this opportunity - we're looking for a special person to fill some very big shoes! Another big change is to SADD's mission statement. As part of SADD's strategic planning process, we spent a lot of time talking with advisors, students, state coordinators, and more. Many of you might remember filling out a survey this past spring. We used all that input to revise SADD's mission statement for the first time in nearly twenty years. Here's our brand-new mission statement:
SADD's mission is to empower young people to successfully confront the risks and pressures that challenge them in their daily lives.
We accomplish this by creating, equipping, and sustaining a network of student-led chapters in schools and communities focused on peer-to-peer education. SADD fosters a sense of belonging and promotes resiliency, leadership, and advocacy skills so that young people make positive life decisions.
You can find SADD's new mission, vision, and values at sadd.org/mission.htm. Many of you have reprinted SADD's mission on your chapter websites or other materials - please update these as you are able. |
| Spotlight on SADD Chapters |
This monthly column highlights the impressive work chapters are doing around the country. Want to see your chapter in the Spotlight? Send news and a good group photo to fieldservices@sadd.org. October 22 was Unity Day, a day to wear orange to demonstrate togetherness in standing up to bullying as part of National Bullying Prevention Month - coordinated by PACER's National Bullying Prevention Center. Pittsfield High School SADD from Pittsfield, Massachusetts participated, with SADD students creating a large poster reading "Happy 2B SADD Unity Day," which students and faculty in the school signed to pledge their commitment to reducing bullying. All Pittsfield high schools and middle schools have their own SADD chapter, coordinated by the Pittsfield Prevention Partnership.
 Battery Creek High School SADD in Beaufort, South Carolina, also celebrated National Bullying Prevention Month with a wide variety of activities. They distributed posters and flyers with statistics about bullying to high school teachers, and handed out stickers to call attention to the issue within all the elementary schools in town. Finally, students, faculty, and parents gathered (many wearing orange in recognition of Unity Day), for a moment of silence in a "Ring of Unity" underneath the Spanish moss-covered trees outside the school (pictured). Battery Creek SADD also celebrated Red Ribbon Week and participated in Halloween activities in what was a very busy month.  October was also Domestic Violence Awareness Month, and Sidney High School SADD from Sidney, Ohio, focused on teen dating violence. They surveyed students, which identified a serious problem with controlling relationships. They enlisted a local counseling service, and held an assembly for freshmen. SADD students shared facts, played some educational videos, and role-played various scenarios so students could recognize what relationship behaviors were signs of concern. Sidney SADD plans to hold these assemblies for incoming freshmen each year. Of course, most chapters were holding Red Ribbon Week activities - far too many to profile here. Here are just a couple of highlights we picked out. 110 students from five school districts across Bradford County in Pennsylvania gathered in Towanda, Pennsylvania, for a Red Ribbon Week rally. Most students at the event were representatives of their schools' SADD chapters, and they listened to speakers, tied red ribbons on trees, and were presented with a proclamation from county commissioners.  Chapters come up with all kinds of creative themed days for Red Ribbon Week - wearing sports jerseys one day to "team up" against drug use, or Hawaiian shirts to represent "lei-ing" off drugs, and many other fun ideas. One of our favorites came from Edmund Burke Academy SADD in Waynesboro, Georgia. They "mustache" you not to do drugs! Congratulations to all these chapters for their successful efforts! Material from local newspapers was used to prepare a portion of this report.
Click on photos for original articles, if applicable.
|
| 2015 SADD National Conference |  Registration is now open for the 2015 SADD National Conference: Blast Off To Your Future, which will be held Sunday, June 28 - Wednesday, July 1 at the Sheraton Music City Hotel in Nashville, Tennessee.
The inclusive price for conference, which includes the conference registration fee plus hotel accommodations for three nights and most meals, will be $779 for youth (quad occupancy) and $879 for adults (double occupancy). There will also be a $55 optional off-site trip to the famous Wildhorse Saloon, where on a private, alcohol-free floor you'll enjoy a buffet dinner and line-dancing lessons. Alternatively, you may choose to entertain yourselves that night by taking the hotel shuttle to the Opry Mills shopping and dining complex nearby.
Need to fundraise to attend conference? We've got you covered with our new SADD National Conference Fundraising Toolkit, which you can download here. Packed full of a variety of ideas - from approaching businesses and community groups to fundraising events your chapter can hold - the toolkit will help you collect the funds necessary to attend conference or raise funds for some other purpose. Check it out today!
|
| Programs & Resources |  January 26 - February 1, 2015 is National Drug Facts Week. Sponsored by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), this week is designed to provide scientifically accurate information about drugs to teens to shatter the myths about drug abuse. SADD is proud to be a national partner on this campaign. It's not too early to begin planning your participation in NDFW, and there are a number of ways to get involved.
You can participate in National Drug Facts Chat Day on January 30, ask students to take the National Drug IQ Challenge, host an event at your school with a speaker, and more! Make sure to register your event - we're hoping ALL SADD chapters participate and appear on the national map! You can also order FREE materials for your event that will be mailed to you. Start your planning now! For more information, click here.
 Mark Wednesday, December 10 at 2:00 PM Eastern time on your calendars. On that day, in cooperation with a number of federal, state, and community agencies, SADD will be hosting a virtual community forum on teen drugged driving. More details will be included in the December issue of The SADDvocate - but please reserve that time now!
|
| Contests, Grants, and Awards |  SADD's #drivingskills101 Accelerate to Safety contest with The National Road Safety Foundation has been extended, so there's still time to enter! The contest focuses on teen driver speeding. To enter, just fill out the contest questionnaire with your ideas for reducing teen speeding. Ten finalists receive $100 and create a storyboard for a 3-5 minute video about teen speeding. The winner has their video professionally produced and receives $2,500! The new deadline for entries is Friday, November 21, so don't miss this chance to participate - we still have free toolkits packed with giveaway items for those who register soon (supplies are very limited). Click here for more information and to enter.
 The Courageous Persuaders PSA contest challenges current high school students to create a 30-second PSA targeted at middle schoolers, encouraging them to avoid underage drinking. There's also a portion of contest focused on prevention of texting while driving. More than $21,000 in scholarships will be awarded! The deadline to enter is February 12, 2015. To learn more, visit courageouspersuaders.com.
 Toyota's TeenDrive365 Video Challenge is back for 2015. High school students are challenged to create a 60-90 second video PSA that highlights the importance of safer teen driving. The grand prize winner receives $15,000 and a chance to produce a PSA with a Discovery film crew! The deadline to enter is March 16, 2015. 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!
Sincerely,
Christopher Egan, Director of Field Services
SADD National |
|
|
