Welcome to another issue of The SADDvocate! The holidays are upon us, and SADD chapters are busy with a variety of projects to close out the year. What is your chapter doing to close out the calendar year?  It's not too late to renew your chapter's registration! Registration takes just two minutes and is free - and we'll mail you a chapter certification and free poster as a thank-you. If you haven't done so, will you take two minutes to renew your chapter's registration right now? Thanks to the thousands of SADD chapters who have renewed this school 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. |
 | Help Support SADD Today!
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Black Friday and Cyber Monday have passed, but some of us still have shopping to do! Here's an idea - why not shop online for your remaining gifts and donate to SADD... at the same time?  There are two easy ways to do so. First, you can give to SADD by using AmazonSmile. Eligible purchases create a small donation to SADD - at no extra cost to you! Getting started is simple - go to smile.amazon.com and log in with your Amazon account. Then search for "SADD, Inc." and choose us as your charity. Start your shopping at smile.amazon.com (don't worry - if you forget, Amazon will remind you if you're about to purchase an eligible item), and you'll be contributing to SADD!  You can also install the We-Care Reminder. This is a simple browser plug-in. You download and install it once, and then you'll automatically generate donations whenever you shop online at participating merchants - and there are more than 2,500 of them! Installing the Reminder takes 60 seconds just once and generates donations forever with no effort on your part. So please take a moment to install the reminder now at sadd.we-care.com/start! Of course, SADD National always appreciates direct donations, too. We charge no dues or membership fees and make much of our programming available for free, too. Why not donate to recognize SADD's departing President & CEO Penny Wells for her 15 years of service? You can make a tax-deductible donation by clicking here. Thanks for your support of SADD. From all of us at SADD National, we wish you a safe and happy holiday season! |
| Programs and Resources
|  SADD Shines Day is back for another year! Scheduled for Wednesday, February 4, 2015, this is a day to celebrate all things SADD. We have a downloadable resource kit with ideas for how to celebrate - whether you use our "Lighting the Way" theme with homemade lanterns in a ceremony or find some other way to celebrate. Look for the toolkit and templates for proclamations, press releases, social media posts, and more at sadd.org/saddshines.htm.
 January 26 - February 1 is National Drug Facts Week, sponsored by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). Designed to provide scientifically accurate information to teens about drugs, there's plenty of activities your chapter can take on - so make sure to register your activity and order FREE materials right now! To learn more, click here.
December is National Impaired Driving Prevention Month. We've asked chapters to pay special attention to the growing issue of drugged driving. The Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) has a helpful Teen Drugged Driving Prevention Toolkit that has activity ideas, stats and research, and more. Click here to download it.
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| Spotlight on SADD Chapters
| This monthly column highlights the impressive work chapters are doing across the country. Want to see your chapter in the Spotlight? Send news and a good group photo to fieldservices@sadd.org.
 Many SADD chapters participated in NOYS' Seat Belts SAVE contest. One such chapter was Royal Palm Beach High School SADD in Royal Palm Beach, Florida. They held their initial survey, which showed nearly 45 percent of students weren't buckled up, including most back-seat passengers. They worked to educate students with a safety fair, including a rollover simulator to show how back-seat passengers were at risk. SADD students also created seat belt slogans that were printed on magnetic vehicle signs to carry the message beyond the school and into the community.
 Ocean City High School SADD from Ocean City, New Jersey, partnered with their school's anti-smoking REBEL club to educate middle school students about tobacco as part of the American Cancer Society's Great American Smokeout. Students presented about tobacco in health classes, and then got hands on, tracing a life-size middle school student and working with them to list the effects of tobacco on the body.
 West Central High School SADD in Hartford, South Dakota celebrated Ally Week, designed to show support for LGBT students and end bullying and harrassment - something that can be an issue in many schools. They invited classmates to take a pledge promising to keep the school safe for all students.
 New Hampton High School SADD from New Hampton, Iowa, held a lock-in for students on a Saturday night. The all-night party featured movies, food, games, and more and went from 9pm until 7am the next morning. Besides having fun, the hope was to demonstrate that there were substance-free activities offered in the community that students could choose rather than put themselves at risk with poor decisions.
Congratulations to all these chapters for their hard work!
Material from local newspapers was used to prepare a portion of this report. Click images for original articles, if applicable.
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| SADD Store - Free SADD Ornament!
| SADD Store items make great (and inexpensive) thank-you gifts from your chapter - give something to your partners in the community, your advisor, your principal, or others.
 For the holiday season, the SADD Store is offering a special - order $50 of merchandise, and get a FREE SADD Ornament! Just add the ornament to your cart, and when you checkout with $50 of other merchandise, the price will be reduced to zero. Don't miss out on this offer - place your order today! Visit saddstore.org to check out all the great items available.
Don't forget to like the SADD Store Facebook page for all the latest deals and specials. Email sadd@apisource.com or call 1-888-608-6988 with any questions.
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| 2015 SADD National Conference |  Registration is open for the 2015 SADD National Conference: Blast Off To Your Future, which will be held Sunday, June 28 - July 1, 2015, at the Sheraton Music City Hotel in Nashville, Tennessee. The conference page on our website has detailed information, along with useful fundraising tools - check it out!
Next month, we'll have more information about keynote speakers, workshops, and more - so stay tuned!
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