Doug Soule and Laurel Muhly-Alexander just won $5,000 for Bridgeport High School by winning the West Virginia Alcohol Beverage Control Administration’s “No School Spirits” contest.
BHS administration left it up to the students as to how the cash prize would be utilized.
What are they going to do with it?
This morning – in front of the student body, faculty and special guests – the students explained how they choose to disperse their half of the winnings.
“One thousand dollars will be given to Jenny Santilli and the Spanish department for updated technology in the classroom and another $1,000 will go to Mrs. (Melissa) Keyser and Miss (Emilee) Stout’s driver’s education and health departments for updated educational resources,” said Muhly-Alexander, a BHS freshman. “The plan for now for the extra $500 is to put a professional and permanent sign up in the back student parking lot – something to the effect of ‘put the phone down and buckle up’ – as just another reminder that when you are on the road, you are not only in charge of your own life, but the lives of others.”
A BHS junior, Soule said his half of the cash prize would also be used in three different areas.
“I would like to give $1,000 to the theater department so that they can produce a play next fall about the dangers of drunk driving,” said Soule, who has already written the script. “The other $1,000 is for the media department for new equipment so they can record and enrich Bridgeport High School’s future ventures. The other $500 will be used for safe driving messages at after-prom so more can be influenced by our message.”
That message is: “Don’t drink and drive.”
To create their prize-winning PSA, the students interviewed a former Buckhannon-Upshur High School educator who, while traveling with her children, was struck head-on by a drunk driver. After 23 years of teaching, her career came to an abrupt end. She will never completely recover and her life is forever changed.
WVABCA Commissioner Ronald Moats said the students created a powerful message and stood out from the 78 entries – essays and video PSAs - received from 16 high schools from across the state.
Driver’s education/health teacher Melissa Keyser said upon receiving information about the contest, she shared it with all students of BHS.
“We, as teachers, need to educate our students about the consequences that go along with the poor decision of drinking and getting behind the wheel of a car,” she said. “So when the PSA contest was sent to the driver’s education and health departments here at BHS, we passed it on to the student body. After the contest was announced on the school’s morning news show for several days, only two students came to me for information on how to enter. They were not students of mine, but they wanted to make a difference for your school and our community. The project had to be completed on their own – with no help from school personnel – and they did just that.”
Muhly-Alexander and Soule said they entered the contest to educate themselves and others about the dangers of drinking and driving.
After winning the contest, the students were able to be involved with the process of creating a 60-second commercial – based on their PSA – which will air across West Virginia throughout prom and graduation season. That commercial was unveiled today at the BHS assembly and will hereafter be seen on TV. Local viewers will likely notice the commercial by its tagline: "Brought to you by Bridgeport High School."
BHS Prevention Resource Officer Jamie Hamrick announced that the commercial would also air at Cinemark Cinemas at Meadowbrook Mall and would utilize air space provided to Bridgeport Police Department for public service announcements/messages.
The WVABCA contest is backed by the Governors’ Highway Safety Program and State Farm Insurance Company, both who sent representatives to today’s assembly at BHS, during which a check presentation took place. Also in attendance was Dr. Mark Manchin, superintendent of Harrison County Schools, and Dot Underwood of Governor Earl Ray Tomblin’s office.
All speakers drove home the fact that no matter what students – or adults, for that matter – think they know about the dangers of drinking and driving, it all comes down to one moment when that very important decision is made. All speakers urged the students to always make the right decision and to make sure their friends make the right decision also.
As a tribute to Barbara, the former Buckhannon-Upshur High School teacher who was interviewed for the PSA and commercial, the Bridgeport High School Dance Ensemble performed "Dance Beauty of Adversity" to "Fight Song/Amazing Grace" recorded by The Piano Guys. The BHS Dance Ensemble is under the direction of Alicia Kinsey. Video of that dance performance is forthcoming on Connect-Bridgeport.
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