subject: Teenage Journalists Write To Change Peer Attitudes Behind The Wheel [print this page] Six high school journalists were selected from over 150 entries from around the country as winners of the national Keep the Drive High School Journalism Awards to educate their peers on the value of Graduated Driver Licensing laws, earning prizes totaling $7,500. The Keep the Drive High School Journalism Awards, sponsored by The Allstate Foundation, is an annual creative writing and journalism competition that encourages teens to address the number one killer of teens in the U.S. motor vehicle crashes.
Students were challenged to either write an article and have it published in the school newspaper, or write and produce a news segment and air it for the entire student body to view. Winners were selected with the help of Quill and Scroll, the International Honorary Society for High School Journalists.
The winners of the 2012 Keep the Drive High School Journalism Awards are:
Broadcast winners
1st Place ($2,000 prize)Christina Desalvo, Francis Howell North High School, St. Charles, Missouri
2nd Place ($1,000 prize) Agnieszka Zawadzka, Breman High School, Midlothian, Illinois
3rd Place ($750 prize) Danielle Bixler-Robinson, Franklin Heights High School, Columbus, Ohio
Print winners
1st Place ($2,000 prize) Joshua Gordon, Chantilly High School, Chantilly, Virginia
2nd Place ($1,000 prize) Stephanie Euler, West York Area High School, York, Pennsylvania
3rd Place ($750 prize) Jason Frost, Sparkman High School, Harvest, Alabama
Programs like The Allstate Foundation High School Journalism Awards help educate teens on the value and importance of teen safe driving, said Vicky Dinges, vice president for public social responsibility at Allstate.We know that when teens share this message with their peers it can have a resounding effect and change behavior. At the end of the day, we believe teens want to be safe drivers and dont want to risk losing a lifetime of memories with their friends and family due to an avoidable car crash.
The Allstate Foundations website, www.keepthedrive.com, offers a variety of resources for teens to learn more about the issue and interact with one another to raise awareness about smart driving.
Here are five ways everyone can be safer behind the wheel:
