Students in the Lenape Regional High School District (LRHSD) are hard at work on creating and launching the ambitious 2013 version of the Heads Up, Eyes Forward! safe driving campaign.
The campaign aims to raise awareness about the dangers of distracted driving, not only among their peers but among drivers of all ages.
The LRHSD is among 55 school based participants statewide selected to compete in the Brain Injury Alliance of New Jersey’s Third Annual ‘U Got Brains Champion Schools Program’ — a contest challenging New Jersey high school students and teachers to develop fun and interactive campaigns aimed at educating drivers about the importance of safe driving.
According to John Donaldson, LRHSD Director of Television Services, students and advisors from all four district high schools, Lenape, Shawnee, Cherokee and Seneca, will be involved in the campaign as it kicks into full gear in the next few weeks.
The 2013 campaign taps into social media in big way.
The LRHSD Heads Up, Eyes Forward! team asks students and community members to like them on Facebook (www.facebook.com/HeadsUpEyesForward) and follow the campaign on Twitter (@HeadsUpEyesFWD) to help spread the message.
They also have a dedicated Heads Up, Eyes Forward! YouTube page (www.youtube.com/headsupeyesforward).
It features all of the videos created for the LRHSD campaigns over the past two years. The latest one, filmed last summer by students in the LDTV Summer Workshop, is a parody of Carly Rae Jepsen’s hit Call Me Maybe.
Most often associated with texting or cell phone use, distracted driving includes a host of activities, some seemingly benign. Eating, applying makeup, talking with friends, or even listening to the radio are things that can distract a driver’s eyes and mind from the road.
According to Donaldson, the first year the Lenape Regional campaign focused on texting.
“Last year the students changed the title of the campaign to Heads Up, Eyes Forward!, because they wanted to address all of the different forms of distracted driving,” he said.
For more information about Heads Up, Eyes Forward!, visit www.lrhsd.org/HeadsUp.
To check out The Sun’s coverage of the story, click here.
