SADD COMMITTEE
Back Row : Jonty McGrath , Michael Henrich Front Row : Patrick Sawyers , Lily Stephens , Josh Beecroft
2021 was an unfortunate year when it came to opportunities . Due to the Year 13 camp , we were unable to attend the Hawke ’ s Bay SADD workshop , which would have been a great opportunity for everyone on our committee , as we could have made connections with other like-minded people . However , we still did our best throughout the school year to make a positive impact on our school . At the start of the year , we investigated installing speed bumps and signs out the back of the school in order to slow down both teachers and buses alike , hopefully making life safer for the students and , while we have not had the resources to implement this as of yet , the idea is still being looked into . Around the same time , two of our members led the current group of Year 11 ’ s to the Hawke ’ s Bay Youth Road Safety Expo on the 10th of May . The expo was a great opportunity for not only the Year 11 students to gain the knowledge to make our roads safer in the future , but also our committee members were able to make connections with Hawke ’ s Bay Police , Fire and the St John organisation .
One of our leaders , Josh Beecroft , contacted our local Defensive Driving coordinator to see if we could bring courses into our school and make it easier on the students . This , unfortunately , did not happen due to things out of our control but , regardless , students were encouraged to sign up for local courses through the school ’ s careers department who held application forms . This idea was driven to help students drive legally with passengers . Speaking of doing things legally , this term we are doing a planned activity with seniors to test their knowledge of the rules when it comes to roundabouts . In Term 3 , our committee spray painted and created cardboard cars for the activity . While this activity was meant to take place in Term 3 , we are now planning for it to take place in week four of Term 4 . Members of the committee displayed posters throughout the school in conjunction with Roadsafe Hawke ’ s Bay . Senior students were asked to create “ youth for youth ” safe road driving behaviour messages in the form of an A3 poster under the five category themes : Speed , Impaired driving ( drug / alcohol ), Distracted driving , Unrestrained driving , Dangerous / inexperienced driving .
The winning poster would be used to spread awareness in the community and through social media to promote safe driving . The winner of each category received five free professional driving lessons and a $ 50 pizza voucher .
Our committee had to do things much differently this year due to Covid-19 and the restrictions that came along with it , so the year became much more information focussed than previous years . An example of this was when Patrick Sawyers created an interactive document so that other students in the school , particularly Year 12 / 13 students thinking about joining the committee , can see what SADD is all about . This is amazing , as we have never seen anything quite like it and it really helps students to see what our committee is all about . You can check it out in the on-line version of the magazine .
Document Lily Stephens and Josh Beecroft
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