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April 11th, 2007
Dear MADD,
My son Kevin Thurston is in the 11th grade. He rarely tells me anything about his life at school. He is probably a typical 17-year-old guy in that I usually have to pry information out of him.
So you can imagine my sheer joy and delight when he told me yesterday all about the drunk driving multimedia assembly, Take Two. He just told me about it out of the blue. He said it was an excellent program. He said it really appealed to his age group. He described the three big screens going at once with video. He said it was engaging but not confusing. He said the program was "not like the boring films you might see in health class." He added that the program did not speak down to the audience. If offered interesting information about alcohol advertising and other things, but did not bombard the audience with mind-numbing statistics. It appealed to the emotions and he felt it was a great program.
Kevin is more likely to be affected by such a program, because his uncle was killed by a drunken boat driver last summer. But still, his assessment of the program makes me feel hopeful that many kids his age got the message and may think twice about getting behind a wheel while impaired.
Thank you so much for setting up such an important program. I just wanted you to know that at least one student was positively affected by your efforts to educate people about the dangers of drinking and driving. You've done a great thing and you have made a difference in the world. Of course, you do that everyday with your presence at the school. But I just wanted you to know this was a great program - above and beyond!
Bless you and thank you SO MUCH,
Karen Thurston, Concerned Parent
June 28, 2006
Dear MADD,
We have been lucky enough to have the MADD assembly shows to our school and we recently purchased one of the "Class Packs" and have been impressed by both. MADD does a great service for our nation's kids and for the SROs that are trying to help them.
Officer Richard Neil
Huber Heights, Ohio
April 18, 2006
Dear MADD,
I just wanted to take a minute to give you a little feedback on the program from this morning. I wrote some of this on the feedback form, but it was harder to do on the spur of the moment.
All day I have heard wonderful feedback from students and teachers regarding the program. Many students (male and female) have shared with me how they cried or what an impact certain parts of the program made on them. Many of our seniors told me they think it was the best program we have ever had. All of the teachers thought it was a very effective program and many have asked for a copy of the activity guide you sent me.
The presentation itself is excellent. The use of technology, music, entertainers, etc. grabs their attention and keeps it. As I'm sure you know the use of current celebrities, movies and music makes them want to see what is going on.
From the state chapter rep who first sent me information, to you, to the gentleman who came and did today's program, every one has been extremely helpful and professional to work with. I can't say enough wonderful things about the program.
Thank you for allowing us to have this program in our school. I truly believe that this and programs like it can help to make a difference in the lives of young people.
Thank you again,
Leslie Phillips
Greenbrier High School
Greenbrier, Arkansas
March 22, 2006
View Original Letter
Dear Elaine Shirley,
On behalf of the faculty, staff, and students of Milano High School and Milano Junior High; thank you for such an awesome presentation. Our collective campuses watched THE SPOT on Friday March 10 just before we released for spring break vacation. WOW . . . very good!
As an administrator, I am always anxious about getting all the students together for a presentation because of time constraints in our schools, There is never enough time to teach the content we need to teach, and bringing the whole school together further constrains the time. In this case, the show that MADD has put together is simply POWERFUL.
I sat middle front and frequently turned around to see if the impact was the same on the students as it was on me. Every eye was glued to the three screens. Every student was focused. The mix of music, music videos, interviews, and stories was very well done. I have been recommending The Spot to every educator and student I have seen since then.
Milano ISD decided to bring the presentation because of the message and the fact that someone else was picking up the fee. We are enclosing a check for the cost of the presentation because of the impact and the response I heard from teachers and students. We were all moved.
Respectfully and gratefully,
Joe Mobley
High School Administrator
Milano ISD
March 2, 2006
Dear MADD,
Thank you for allowing us the opportunity to view the latest video against drinking and driving. Our school has been having many problems with bad choices lately and we are hoping the video will be helpful when our freshmen class is faced with peer pressure. We hope that by showing them the consequences of their actions they will be more likely to make good choices. Thank you again for your continued efforts in making the world and streets a safer place for us to live.
Sincerely,
Hereford High School SADD
December 13, 2005
Hello,
My names Jessica & I'm 17 years old. I got the opportunity to view one of your shows called 'The Spot,' today at Patapsco High School and Center for the Arts. I have been learning about drugs and alcohol since I was a toddler.
However, I must say that show is the only presentation that actually got me thinking about drinking and driving. Yes, I have drove with people under the influence a few times. I never thought anything like that would happen to my friends and I. After seeing the show today, there is one thing that sticks in my mind. The piece about the younger boy and his Mom in a mini van. They were struck by a 19 yrs old male that ran a stop sign. He had been drinking & doing cocaine for 3 days. The young boy tried getting his mother out of the van but was unable to. She arrived deceased at the hospital. I sat and cried at my school over that. Just thinking what it must be like to have to witness that with your own mother. Knowing you could do nothing about it. Then thinking about being on the other end, what if my friends or I would be the person who struck them. I never would be able to live with that. It was a very touching piece. As soon as I arrived home, I called a few of my friends just to tell them about that show. I told them I never want to drive with anyone who had been drinking ever again, & how lucky we were that the times we did, everyone including us made it home safe and sound. Thank you for making me think about how UN thoughtful I have been in the past! Keep up the good work with the shows. I hope everyone has the chance to see them and know what I know now. It really got through to me & I'm happy now that I know I'll never put anyone in harm again!! Thanks again for your time!
Sincerely,
Jessica Miller
November 23, 2005
Dear whom it may concern,
I just want to start out by saying thank you. I am a 14 year old girl from Washington State and last weekend I was in Albuquerque New Mexico. I was there for a national FCCLA cluster meeting. When I saw on the agenda that MADD was going to be talking to us I immeditly thought that they were going to preach at us again, as usual. But I was really impressed, they didn't. We got to watch a presentaion called The Spot. It was so real and close to home.
Yes I have rode in the car with someone who has been drinking, and now that I have seen that I have promised myself never to that again.
There were about 1500 people there and it was so quiet in that auditorium. I was so amazed. It made such an impact. It immedily brought tears to my eyes when they showed the story of the little boy and his mother. Not only was it me but almost everyone around me had tears in their eyes. The way this was presented was just perfect. After that I just had to go to the workshop MADD was putting on. I leared much more there. How I could get involved with the youth in action team and what I can do to prevent people drinking while driving. Thank you so much. I really enjoyed seeing The Spot and I really want the show that at my school.
Melissa
December 5, 2004
Steve,
Just wanted to say "thank you" to everyone at School Outreach for a job well done.
Recently, the Bootheel Chapter in Missouri sponsored 7 showings of FACE and 5 showings of SUPERHERO and all 7 schools were really impressed with the presentations.
I would like especially to say "thank you" to Kelly Garrett for helping me to get these schools booked. She was just great and handled everything superbly.
I would, also, like to say Justin Blackwood was really great too. He was a very friendly and professional young representative of MADD. He did a great job with his presentation. It was a pleasure meeting and working with him.
I hope to be able to bring the new show, BACKSTAGE PASS, to our area in the future.
Thanks again, for all your assistance.
Judy Luye
Bootheel Chapter, Missouri
April 15, 2002
View Original Letter
To Steve Emerick and everyone at MADD,
Last year at the National Association of School Resource Officers convention, Mother's Against Drunk Driving presented a new video program they developed called "Fake I.D." I immediately thought about our school's Prevention Day activities, held annually two days before prom and as we got closer to April 11th, 2002, MADD was willing to bring this program to our school.
We have a strong tradition of presenting good programs for our students on many social issues, including underage drinking. As with any program or assembly, our students, teachers and administrators are somewhat skeptical on a program's quality and effectiveness at delivering a message. Bruce Helfrich arrived at our school with "Fake I.D." and promptly put all skepticism to rest.
"Fake I.D." is a program that many have said at Kirkwood High School was the best and most effective assembly they have ever seen. I've attached a few of the messages I received immediately following the program from teachers. More importantly, they are hearing from their students about the quality of the message and how it was conveyed. I personally watched the 1700 students who were attending and it was great to see them display all kinds of different emotions.
Kirkwood High School would like to thank Mother's Against Drunk Driving for creating such a great video, Elaine Shirley for her great customer service and Bruce Helfrich for driving all the way from Kentucky to deliver this important message. It's obvious that everyone at MADD is willing to help and Kirkwood High School appreciates this.
Sincerely,
Mike Bales
Resource Officer
Kirkwood High School
Kirkwood, Missouri
April 10, 2002
View Original Letter
Dear Steve:
The multi-media program Fake ID was shown at our high school on Thursday, April 4, 2002. We try to have assemblies each year to reinforce our belief in a drug- and alcohol-free lifestyle for our students. Your program was very professionally done and was very well received by our students.
After the program, I had one student in particular who came in to talk to me. This student was a regular user in middle school, stopped using in early high school, but has returned to occasional use this school year. She said, "Ms. Kent, that was the best assembly we have ever had". She went on to tell how she cried during the assembly, talked to her dad about it, and how it really made her think. She said that her friends had much the same reaction to the program.
I am not innocent enough to believe that one assembly will totally change the behavior of a student who is already experimenting with drugs and alcohol, but I am encouraged by the fact that the students did listen and are thinking about their behavior. Thank you for helping us to reach our students.
Sincerely,
Terry Kopchak
Principal
Heath High School
Heath, Ohio
April 5, 2002
View Original Letter
Dear Brian and Christine,
A world of thanks to you both and the MADD organization for bringing the Fake ID video presentation to our school! It was a wonderful way to get an important message across to our students about underage drinking and the effects of alcohol. Our students and staff really enjoyed this production. Thanks, again.
Sincerely,
Karen Kennedy
SADD Advisor
Barns Table High School
Cape Cod, Massachussetts
April 2, 2002
View Original Letter
Dear Jackie,
Our school would like to take this opportunity to thank the MADD organization. The assembly, Fake ID was a huge success. The students were all very quiet and reserved during the production. The subject matter hit close to home for several of our students, as there is a high percentage of drug and alcohol abuse within our student population and their families.
The quality of the multi-media presentation was excellent. Staff and students were impressed with the very modern visuals as well as the popular bands that participated. A copy of the Activity Guide was distributed to each of the teachers. The response from the staff was positive. I would also like to mention that the presenter was terrific. She related very well with staff and students.
We want you to know that we appreciate all your efforts and that we feel very fortunate to have been recipients of the CLIP grant. Once again, thank you.
Sincerely,
Mary Jo Tommasi
La Vista Center
San Juan Unified School District
Orangevale, California
February 15, 2002
View Original Letter
Dear Ms. Shirley,
We were so excited to have such a wonderful, worthwhile program come to our school. We have had a three-screen program similar to the current one, but I think this new one is very up-to-date and reaches teens on their level. I have heard nothing but positive responses, both from other teachers and administration and from the students themselves.
Kristen Dobbs, a junior here, commented, "It was a very exciting program; it wasn't like any of the other programs that come around. It had a good message and was up-to-date."
We enjoyed the message sent to both groups and thank you for your continued dedication to helping America's youth fight bad influences and help each other. As we continue to reach out to these students, we hope that organizations such as you will help us carry on by providing us with these high-class presentations and keeping us informed of such. If you ever have any promotional materials, such as hand-outs or other items for Prom or Graduation, please keep us mind. We are always looking for ideas. We thank you again and look forward to working with you again in the future.
Sincerely,
Sue Entrekin
Advisor
Red Bay School
Red Bay, AL
Reponses:
I thought the Fake ID presentation was well worth our time. It stressed a lot of good points on why no to drink and drive, as well as, underage drinking. If more people thought about what drinking can do to them and others, they would never accept the offer.
- Amy
I thought the MADD program, Fake ID, was really good. If there were more programs like this I feel it would help teenagers not to drink and drive or hopefully, not to drink at all.
- Sean
Today's assembly was pretty interesting. I liked the way the presentation used scenes and songs from popular movies and T.V. program as well as, music artists to get the point across to us.
- Joey
I thought the MADD assembly was excellent. Many guest speakers are not interesting and don't grab your attention, but this presentation did. The use of recent movies and modern music gave us something to relate to.
- Liz
I deeply appreciate the presentation on drunk driving. It was awesome! Hopefully, educating students across America can help lower the drinking rate of underage drinkers. I would not want anyone to die because of a stupid mistake of drinking driving.
- Kalyn
Although drinking and driving was a part of this presentation, it wasn't the only message. It talked about us being honest with ourselves - knowing who we are and why we do what we do. It made me think about life, in general. The approach was new and original. It got my attention.
- Mr. Pitcock
The program presented by MADD was awesome. I would recommend it to any high school. It touched home since we lost a former student the week before who was riding with a drunk driver.
- Fay Haines
The MADD assembly was by far one of the best I've seen in years. The presentation was timely, concise, and fast paced. It held the students' attention extremely well.
- Jamie Morse
