AAPS: Skyline’s SkyWell Club Invites the AAPS community to “Take the Pledge to Just Drive”

For the fifth time in six years, SkyWell at Skyline High School is promoting teen driving safety in coordination with the Strive for a Safe Drive (S4SD) Campaign. S4SD is a teen driving initiative aimed at reducing traffic crashes, injuries, and fatalities among Michigan’s most inexperienced drivers – teens. The program is funded by Ford Driving Skills for Life and the Michigan Office of Highway Safety Planning. Participating schools around the state of Michigan each receive a $1000 subsidy to support their efforts.

This year’s campaign, called JUST DRIVE, focuses on the many distractions that teen drivers face, including texting, selecting music, eating/drinking at the wheel, interacting with other passengers, and talking on the phone. Past campaigns have focused on winter safety, seat belt usage, and driving under the influence.

According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), 39 percent of high school students who drove in the past 30 days texted or emailed while driving on at least one of those days.

The 2022 campaign includes social media messaging to inform the student body, exit polling at the school to measure distractions, and promotion of the annual Take the Pledge to Drive Safely—asking students and families to sign a pledge going forward.

All community members are invited to Take the Pledge here. 

Skyline senior Nora Halloran says that students at Skyline don’t realize how many real distractions exist.  “Hopefully, our campaign will raise awareness and make everyone safer,” she says.

The 2022 campaign includes information for parents to increase awareness about how to support teen drivers.

SkyWell launched in 2014 as a student-led after-school club to promote and foster many dimensions of personal and school-wide wellness among the student body. It is coordinated by the Health and Medicine Bio-Medical  Science Magnet Program at Skyline High School.

MAIN PHOTO: Students Nora Halloran, Waleska Martinez, Nina Taleb-Bendiab; Dusti Vincent, lead teacher