Final Video

For those on school computers that do not allow you to watch videos on YouTube, our final video is also here:

Community Support

Our Community Leaders support Anoka High School SADD! Check out www.teendriver411.com!

The Anoka City Council proudly supports Anoka High SADD's mission to educate the community about teen traffic safety!

View our presentation at: Anoka City Council Meeting. You can go to 4.1 and watch the video starting with us.

The City of Ramsey has invited Anoka SADD to present at their City Council meeting on May 12.

Our SADD Chapter has met with many community groups to spread our campaign, "Get the 411 on Teen Drivers! Stay Connected! Save Teen Lives! The list includes: Kiwanis, Rotary, Lions, and the American Legion.

The Anoka Hennepin School District #11 will honor the Anoka High School SADD Chapter for their efforts to educate teens about traffic safety on May 11.

MADD Minnesota recognized Anoka SADD at Day at the Capitol! www.maddmn.org.

Thank you Minnesota Legislators, Jim Abeler, Mike Jungbauer, Peggy Scott, and Jerry Newton for listening. Help us pass the Primary Seat Belt Law!

Thank you to the Anoka High School staff for all the help that you have given to the Anoka High School SADD Chapter. Principal Mike Farley has promoted and supported this important issue!

Thank you to our many partners including Crossroads North Campus and Principal Lynn Salisbury.

Thank you to the media that helped to get our teen driving messages to the public; QCTV, Anoka Union, WCCO Radio, and KARE 11.

Thank you to National SADD at www.sadd.org for giving us the tools to be a successful SADD Chapter!

Thank you to NOYS, National Organizations for Youth Safety, www.NOYS.org, and the Allstate Foundation for all the opportunities to Raise our Voices for Teen Driving Safety! You helped us make a difference in the lives of our peers!

U of M Athletes

On April 17th about 15 University of Minnesota athletes came to Anoka High School for a few hours during our lunch periods and competed against the high school students in seat belt races. This was the first time the U of M allowed college athletes to participate in an event with high school students due to NCAA rules; we were very thankful that they accepted our invitation. The U of M athletes were quick, but a selected few high school students were able to out-buckle the athletes!! :-P

Ford MyKey

On May 4th, Natalie Hayford and Joey Siemieniak went to the MN Safety Council headquarters and met with a Ford Spokesperson. Ford is introducing a new feature called MyKey on the 2010 Ford Focus, but will become standard in 90% of Ford, Lincoln, and Mercury vehicles by 2010. Ford MyKey is a safety feature for teens. There is a special key that comes with the car, but does not look any different from a normal key, that limits the car speed to not exceed 80 mph, the radio volume can only go 44% of its capacity, and the car chimes and mutes the radio until the driver buckles up. You can find out more information at: Ford Driving Skills for Life.

Here is a clip when Joey drove the Ford Focus without his seat belt on:





Then on May 5th, the Ford Spokesperson came to Crossroads North Campus which recently lost a student due to not wearing his seat belt in a car crash.
The students really enjoyed learning about the car and getting to drive it.

Jake Bazoff and friend

Josh Meis

Bagging Groceries

For the past few months Anoka SADD members have been bagging groceries at our local Cub. We have been trying to raise money for us to attend the National SADD Conference in Washington D.C. this summer. On May 3, we also handed out fliers that say May is National Youth Traffic Safety Month along with voting information to everyone entering or exiting the grocery store! :)

Anoka Union Article

A local newspaper published an article to encourage members of our community to vote for us and let them about a few things we have been doing! You can read this article at: Anoka Union Newspaper.

How to Save a Life Video

On April 13th a Sargent from the Minnesota State Patrol came to Anoka High School and showed the video, "How to Save a Life." The video focuses on the things teens need to do to drive safely and "save a life." There are interviews with victims and drivers who were involved in crashes and it shows teens going through high school years playing sports, hanging out with friends, prom, and then smashed cars that were driven by teenagers. Our entire school watched the video and listened to the stories of the Sargent from his experiences on duty; it was very eye-oppening.

New Texting PSA

Joey Siemieniak and Jake Markgraf performed a rap for us to encourage people not to text message while driving! :)

Article written by Judge Stephen Halsey issued to 40 newspapers

It’s In Your Court: One Hundred Deadliest Days for Teens and NOT from Swine Flu

We Minnesotans are in the midst of the 100 deadliest days for teens and its NOT from swine flu. Springtime is the time when teens begin to drive more and are involved in activities like PROM which often involve illegal alcohol use. Year around nearly every 7 days in Minnesota a teen driver dies in an auto wreck. Recently a star basketball player in Northern Minnesota died when ejected from his vehicle in a single-car wreck because he was not wearing a seatbelt. Use of seatbelts by rural teen male drivers in pickup trucks is extremely low.

I have never seen such overwhelming anguish and sorrow as that expressed at a sentencing hearing by families of a victim killed in a motor vehicle collision involving a young drunk driver. The driver’s family is also devastated by the consequences to the driver. Teen driving offenses have a significant impact on the criminal justice system in terms of law enforcement, public defenders, prosecutors, probation officers, victim support and judicial resources.

Teens in Minnesota are only 8% of licensed drivers, but account for 14% of collisions. Once they obtain a driver’s license at age 16 they are given the responsibility of operating and staying in control of an instrumentality capable of taking many lives and damaging thousands of dollars of property. Nationwide, one in 5 teen drivers aged 16 is involved in an auto accident.

In 2008 Minnesota adopted limits on nighttime driving hours and numbers of passengers for teen drivers during the first 6 months of being licensed. Graduated licensing in Wisconsin has significantly reduced the number of accidents involving 16 and 17 year old drivers. The 2008 Minnesota legislation includes the following:

• For the first 6 months of licensure, no driving midnight to 5 a.m.
• For the first 6 months, only one passenger under age 20 unless adult present
• For the second 6 monthss, no more than 3 passengers under 20 unless adult present
• No driver under age 18 may use a cell phone while driving
• ALL drivers are prohibited for text-messaging or accessing internet while driving
• For more information, see www.teendriver411.com maintained by Anoka High School SADD.

Here are some frightening statistics:

• One in ten Minnesota teens will be involved in a crash this year
• Most teen crashes are 3-7 p.m., to and from school, and with passengers
• Moter vehicle crashes are the leading cause of teen deaths (39%)
• Risk of driver death increases greatly with 2 or more passengers (triples with 3 passengers)
• 2001-05: 369 Minnesota teens died in crashes; only 39% were wearing seat belts
• 73% of teen driving deaths involved a teen driver

The consequences of a non-DWI traffic violation for a teen driver can be from a small fine or community work service to a brief loss of license. The consequences of an “underage drinking and driving offense” (under age 21 and less than .08 blood alcohol) are loss of license, a greater fine, jail time if over 18, and probation for one year. For a DWI conviction (over.08) there may be a loss of license for 90-180 days.

A very serious consequence that most parents do not realize is the forfeiture of the motor vehicle if the driver has a blood alcohol concentration of .20 or greater. By law it is presumed the parent was aware of the teen driver’s alcohol problem. Collateral consequences, of course, include higher auto insurance rates and inability to hold a job requiring a driver’s license. An adult (18-19) teen driver involved in a fatality faces possible prison time of up to 48 months. There are innovative programs, such as Teen DriveWright in Wright County, to divert traffic offenders from the juvenile justice system into a traffic safety class.

Many teen drivers, and some parents, seem to believe it can never happen to them. But your child could simply exercise poor judgment by riding as a passenger in a vehicle driven by an intoxicated driver. In Oswego, Illinois, on February 11, 2007, 9 teens and young adults were all in a car operated by a drunk driver who struck a power pole. Four teens died in that collision.

The tragedy is that about every 5 days a teenager dies on a Minnesota road. If one teen a week died of the SWINE FLU it would be all over the news and state leaders would probably call for a summit to address the danger.

Please: take a few minutes to talk to your teen driver. Make a contract with them to follow the rules listed above. Consider telling them that no matter where they are, no matter what time of day or night, they must call you if they need a ride…no questions asked.

We don’t want to see you or your child in court as someone touched by the poor driving of a teen.

Submitted by Judge Steve Halsey, Wright County District Court, chambered in Buffalo. Judge Halsey is the host of “The District Court Show” on local cable TV public access channels throughout the Tenth Judicial District. Excerpts can be viewed at WWW.QCTV.org. Go to Community and click “The District Court Show.”

Sweet Sixteen Birthday Cards

When teens in our school are celebrating their 16th birthday, we have birthday cards delivered to them. The cards just wish them a happy birthday and remind them to wear their seat belt and focus on the road if they are driving yet, as most teens are in the process of obtaining their license around this age.

Safety Bracelets

On April 7th, we went to Wilson Elementary School and did safety bracelet presentations with the 1st graders. We made kits for them, and had the students put a colored bead on a string of elastic and we tied the bracelets around their wrists for them. Each bead represents something they can do to be safe:

- Heart bead stands for caring
- Green bead stands for bike safety
- Red bead stands for safely crossing the street
- Yellow bead stands for school bus safety
- Blue bead stands for seat belt safety

The 1st graders really enjoyed our interactive presentations, especially the singing! :)


A video from a previous presentation is available on our www.teendriver411.com website!

PROM Week

The night of Friday April 24th was Anoka High School's PROM night!

The whole week we had a crash car on the front hill of our school. The car belonged to Danielle Pound. Earlier this year we had Danielle's car in our local parade. This is when we met Danielle's father. Danielle's mother, Melody Richards, created a website about her daughter: Danielle Pound. Melody Richards came to Anoka High School on Wednesday, April 22nd and spoke to our junior social studies classes about her daughter and making good decisions, especially during PROM.



On Thursday, April 23rd Connie and Nathan Backstrom came to Anoka High School to speak to our senior social studies classes about their sons and what happened to them along with how there are consequences for your actions. You can find out more about them at: The Backstrom Family.

Then on Friday, the day of PROM, we put on our annual Ghost Out. Every 33 minutes a student is killed in an alcohol-related crash each day; this is about 12 students during our school day. We had a Grim Reaper who went to a pre-planned student's class room every 33 minutes and gave them a t-shirt and a rose which was to represent that they were killed and could not talk for the rest of the day. The t-shirts said on the back, "I was 1/12 killed in an alcohol-related crash today." and so on.



Thankfully, none of our students were injured and we did not have any serious problems! :)

Washington D.C.

On April 23 Natalie Hayford spoke at a press event for The Safe Teen and Novice Driver Uniform Protection Act (STANDUP Act) in Washington D.C. along with a police officer, a mother, a doctor, insurance agents, and two members of Congress.

You can find out more about the STANDUP Act and watch the entire press event at: saferoads4teens.org



Natalie also met with Senator Amy Klobuchar, Congressman James Oberstar, and Keith Ellison's LA for transportation.

WCCO Radio

On April 15th, Natalie Hayford and Laura Knoll were part of a webcast with Gordy Pehrson and Orrin Kessel for the BestPrep Organization. The four of them along with many others are all working on a campaign called "100 Deadliest Days," which ranges from PROM season to Labor Day. These 100 days is when teen crashes occur the most, which is why it is so important that this time frame is acknowledged.

Information on the campaign and a link to the webcast is available at: 100 Deadliest Days.

Day at the Capitol

On March 31, Anoka SADD members and three students from Crossroads Alternative High School went to the Minnesota State Capitol for an event with MADD Minnesota.

10 AM - 11:45 AM ~ Meetings with Legislators about the importance of the Primary Seat Belt Law




12 PM - 12:30 PM ~ Press Conference in the Rotunda where we spoke about the Primary Seat Belt Law and did "Chillin With Your Seat Belt!"
Jake Bazoff from Crossroads also spoke about the death of his friend Steve Sisco and really pushed for the seat belt law, Kelly Milbradt and Jesse Preston held a poster with a picture of Steve with a poem and some other things on it






1:00 PM - 2:00 PM ~ Tour of the MN State Capitol Building



We hope to have made an impact and that Minnesota will hopefully make not wearing a seat belt illegal for everyone! :)

Andover Drivers Education Presentations

On March 24, Anoka SADD members did the same presentations at a neighboring high school that we did at our school.

Anoka Drivers Education Class Presentations

On March 17, Anoka SADD members did an interactive presentation in our drivers education classes.

A lot of the students enjoyed it and will remember the activities we did when they are in the same situations in real life.

Friends are Forever

Along with the surveys, the students signed hands with safe driving tips.

We then stapled all of the hands together and hung them up in the main commons of our school so everybody could see them!