Second Annual Road To Safety Event Gains Traction.

Program receives Recognition from Fulton County and State of Georgia.


Pictured L to R: Johns Creek Students Beck Heigl, Bryan Washington, Evan McGillivray, Johns Creek Principal, Buck Green, FCBOE Area Superintendent, Dr. Sam Taylor, Video Instruction Teacher Johns Creek, Jamie Chuven center, Johns Creek Students, Winners David Burgh and Christina Schmitt.

By Accessmilton.com

The cold rain didn’t keep competitors and supporters away from the 2011 Road To Safety Event. This year's program was held in the Alpharetta High School Auditorium on February 1st and ran from 6 to 8pm.

The "Road To Safety" (RTS) competition allows local high school students to compete by submitting a two minute video advocating safe driving. Competing this year were the following 7 North Fulton County high schools: Alpharetta, Milton, Johns Creek, Centennial, Roswell, Chattahoochee, and Northview. Over 120 people were in attendance.

Many local families from our community donated money for the awards, and local business sponsors also stepped up to the plate including Shane’s Rib Shack, Music Matters in Milton, Oasis Vending, Men At Work Construction Services, LLC., Katy's Car Wash, Bloor Family Dentistry, BHG-Leslie Harper of Metro Brokers, and Ray Of Light Media. Total monetary donations raised were $900. Other donations given for first place were a Fender Electric guitar, amp package and free guitar lessons from Music Matters in Milton, along with Defensive Driving courses from DriveSmartGa/Johns Creek Driving Schools for First, Second and Third place winners. Monetary scholarships were awarded to the winners, 1st place $500, 2nd place $250, and 3rd place $150.

The Road To Safety program was inspired by the unfortunate deaths of two young men from Milton, Patrick Enloe and Parker Jackson, and this year’s program was dedicated to the memory of both of them. Their tragedy’s are what sparked this program and the idea to challenge high school students to use video to send a message to other teens and students educating them on the dangers of teen driving. Here is this years winning video by Johns Creek High School students, Christina Schmitt and David Burgh, please watch!

AN EVENING OF MESSAGE, COMPETITION, AND ENTERTAINMENT.

The evening revved up with 2 song performances by Music Matter's RockU Program band, “Vitality”. The band consisted of two 11 year olds and two 12 year olds. Claire McCoy, Vocalist, JoJo Manzo, Lead Guitar, Jordan Marchese, Bass Guitar and on Drums, Dalton Cauley. The opening finished with a beautiful rendition of” The Star Spangled Banner" by Claire McCoy.

From there, invited Guest Speaker, Bo Jackson, father of the late Parker Jackson, spoke eloquently to the crowd about the privileges of driving and the importance of being aware at all times behind the wheel.

Then it was off to the races with the viewing of over 20 videos competing for the coveted 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place awards. Topics ranged from drunk driving to jay walking, texting, inexperience, and everything in between. Once the videos made their debut, and prior to the winners being announced, two Resolutions were read from Fulton County Board of Commissioners and the Georgia State Senate. The first was from Fulton County Commissioner Liz Hausmann, “The Board of Commissioners of Fulton county salutes and recognizes the important role of the Road to Safety Program in keeping young drivers safe in the community and does hereby proclaim Wednesday, February 1, 2012, as “Road To Safety Appreciation Day” in Fulton County, Georgia." The second was from Senator John Alber’s Cheif Of Staff, Steven Waugh, and it read "Now, therefore, be it resolved by the Senate that the members of this body recognize the dedicated efforts of the Road to Safety Program to save lives by educating teenagers on the dangers they face as new and inexperienced drivers and extend their most sincere best wishes for the future."

The winners were announced by special Guest FC Commissioner Liz Hausmann. First Place, Johns Creek High School, Students were Christina Schmitt and David Burgh with a real to life video showing the aftermath of a crash resulting from texting. Second Place was also Johns Creek High School, Students, Beck Heigl, Evan McGillivray and Third Place, Alpharetta High School, Students, Kailey Monahan, and Victoria Panasyuk . Both videos will debut on Accessmilton.com in the coming weeks.

Next year the program intends to repeat with the same 7 schools. As for what the future holds, the ultimate goal would for this program to expand the rest of Fulton County then throughout the state, however, the focus currently is on affecting our immediate communities and making a difference right here.

For more information, this years winning videos, pictures of the event, a list of sponsors, and how to get involved for next year, please visit www.road2safety.com .