Signal Mountain Middle High School Wins State Farm "Celebrate My Drive" Grant

  • Saturday, November 21, 2015

Thanks to the help of the Chattanooga area media and community, Signal Mountain Middle High is one of 22 schools in the United States that will win a $100,000 grant in the State Farm "Celebrate My Drive" contest.  

SMMHS was one of 100 finalists chosen in the contest.  Thanks to our local media and community members helping us spread the word about online voting, Signal Mountain Middle High was 1 of 11 first prize winners in the small high school division (750 students or less, grades 9–12 combined).  

Per contest rules, SMMHS will use $22,000 of the grant to support a teen driver safety program.  The remainder of the money can be used for general school needs defined by the high school and approved by State Farm. 

SMMHS principal Robin Copp says, "Our students, staff, parents and community members are eager to participate in getting the teen safe driving message out.

We had parents and community members who acted in our video entry, and the musical score was an original arrangement by one of our school's teachers. It was a team effort. In addition, every year we have an assembly that brings students, staff, parents, and community members together to talk about driver safety." 

Celebrate My Drive encourages teens to make positive choices as they begin driving, like Drive 2N2® — 2 eyes on the road, 2 hands on the wheel.  This can help reduce distracted driving and help new drivers build confidence on the road at the same time. Car crashes are the #1 killer of teens and the first year of driving is the most dangerous. So Drive 2N2 was created in an effort to combat this epidemic and raise awareness around the importance of teen driver safety. 

"We really want our students to understand that getting behind the wheel should never be done lightly. Good driver habits, such as Drive 2N2, are important because they reduce risk. We want our students to learn and practice good driver habits now, while they are young, so that they will become lifelong habits," says Principal Copp.   "Fortunately, many of our students recognize the importance of getting behind this message, as you can see from the public service announcement they worked so hard to produce. Our SMMHS public service announcement video was produced by our Film Studies students, who did the storyboarding, casting, directing, location scouting, filming, lighting, and sound recording." 

"Working with my students on this project and seeing the support of our community as they got out the vote has been one of the highlights of my teaching career," says SMMHS Film Studies teacher Matt Doebler. 

The following SMMHS students helped produce the video: Kevin Cecil, Rachel Dagnan, Jesse Dawson, Brad Gaskill, Katharine Gruber, James Johnson, Phillip Lamsey, Kevin Lee, Paige Maloney, Kevin McCaffrey, Austin Murphy, Elizabeth Ortiz, Lily Payne, Thomas Porter, Chris Ragland, Hanna Skinner, Jack Skowronnek, Rowan Spraker and Dreanna Wildman. 

Principal Copp says "Our film students, who conceptualized, planned, cast, and directed our video entry, have a whole series of Drive 2N2 public service announcements planned for regular broadcast on our school news program, 'Sup Signal'.  I love that the videos are very memorable, unique, and humorous - not the "scared straight" approach that is common. These videos will help communicate a clear message to not only our students, but to other students worldwide as these spots are shared through social media. 

SMMHS student Elizabeth Ortiz says, "I am extremely proud of how our film studies class worked together. Everybody in our class complimented each other's talents and respected each individual's input. Our class collaborated extremely well and we are very proud of our final product."

"We were able to take an idea and create something meaningful and fun from it and everyone contributed to it. Seeing that process from beginning to end and being a part of it was really cool," says SMMHS student Kevin Cecil. 

Principal Copp says, "We have recently partnered with one of our local communications companies, EPB Chattanooga, to develop our very own broadcast and live streaming network. Anytime we produce a public service announcement, hold a safe driving event, or feature a specific speaker, we can now record and live stream these to the entire world-giving them instant access to the message about safe driving that we want to spread."

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