Hoquiam High School Named Among Top Ten Schools for Leading Change in Teen Driving Behavior

Hoquiam, WA - The Hoquiam High School has been selected as one of the top ten high schools from throughout the United States and Canada as a leader in teen driver safety by Project Ignition — a service-learning teen driver safety program sponsored by State Farm® and coordinated by the National Youth Leadership Council® — based on criteria including student participation, campaign results, and connection to learning objectives.=

After receiving an initial $2,000 investment from Project Ignition in January along with twenty-four other schools, the Varsity Cheerleaders from Hoquiam High School sought to reduce risky driving attitudes and behaviors. For their successful efforts,  HHS Varsity Cheerleaders will receive continued funding of $2,500 in the coming school year to expand upon its campaign.

From January 2012 –June 2012 the Varsity Cheerleaders have participated in several community and school activities to help educate the students and the community on the dangers of distracted driving.

This News is a service of:
       

• Traffic observation and survey
• Commitment poster signing at a sporting event
• Town meeting with a PowerPoint showing statistics on the dangers of texting and driving.
• They did a survey of students and the community in the beginning of the campaign and again at the end of the project and it showed a significant change in how many still drove distracted.

These are just a few of the activities that the cheerleaders were involved in during the time of the project.

NYLC and State Farm believe that youth leadership is a critical component to effectively changing teen driving behaviors and saving lives. “The youth engaged with Project Ignition are uniquely positioned to offer a critical voice and influence their peers’ driving behaviors. The fact that youth work with adult educators to link the campaigns to their academic coursework through service-learning ensures that this program strengthens schools as it also helps to save young lives. In partnership with State Farm, we continue to look for ways to recognize the amazing accomplishments by young people through Project Ignition,” said Kelita Svoboda Bak, NYLC CEO.

“I am very proud of my squad.  We have done a lot of work and I’m glad it paid off.”  Said Heather Nations, Captain of the HHS Cheer Squad.

“Being chosen as one of the top 10 schools in the nation is an amazing honor.  With this opportunity we will be able to further our efforts to educate the community and student body on the dangers of distracted driving.  The cheerleaders and I  are excited and ready to get started on the next phase of this project.”  Said Charlotte Helland, HHS Cheer Advisor.

In addition, students will receive $5,000 to participate in the National Service-Learning Conference®, hosted annually by the National Youth Leadership Council, in the spring of 2013 in Denver, Colo. where they will have the opportunity to showcase their work to other students, educators, and thought leaders in the education field. To see the complete list of top ten schools, read the press release online at http://ny.lc/L0x7vq