State Farm Youth Advisory Board grants $52,724
New Castle, PA September 16, 2011 –The State Farm Youth Advisory Board announced that New Castle Jr./Sr. High School will receive a $52,724 service-learning grant for a driver safety project.
New Castle Jr./Sr. High School is one of 64 community organizations to receive a service-learning, youth-led grant across the United States and Canada. A formal check presentation will take place at New Castle High School on Friday, September 16 at 8:00 a.m. and again during the pre-game activities of the football game.
“New Castle’s program, called Operation Drive Safe, is an on-going student-created and student-led service-learning project addressing teen driver safety issues (seat belt use, obeying the laws, distracted driving and drinking and driving/underage drinking). Students utilize modern forms of social media to educate and communicate important messages to school districts in surrounding communities so they can all work together to reduce accidents. The school is providing each school with a "how to" binder to start their own campaigns that will include cross-curriculum activities for every department and reach elementary students to adults. New Castle’s campaign also includes a "Flat Stanly" campaign, a book of stories and poems, a DVD of real incidents, Teen Driver Safety Week activities, a safety summit, mock accident and guest speakers,” said Susan Liao, Youth Advisory Board member who represents Pennsylvania and the Northeast Zone.
“Students at New Castle Jr./Sr. High School have been involved in creating a teen driver safety campaign since 2007. Each year we have expanded to include more students, more activities, more partnerships and more communities. Our role is to prevent accidents from happening by giving teen drivers and adults the tools to be safe drivers. Students are very passionate about their involvement and I am very proud to work with such a wonderful group of students, faculty and administrators. We can’t thank State Farm enough for their support of projects like this. They truly are helping us to save teen lives.” said Donna Campbell, New Castle’s Safety Education/Health teacher and Project Ignition team advisor.
“State Farm supports service-learning because it combines service to the community with classroom curriculum in a hands-on approach to mastering subject material while fostering civic responsibility,” said Carolin Irvin, State Farm’s Public Affairs Manager for the Northeast Zone. “The State Farm Youth Advisory Board is a prime example of State Farm’s commitment to education, our communities and youth.”
The State Farm Youth Advisory Board has granted over $19.8 million in grant money since its inception in 2006, empowering youth to implement service-learning in 340 communities.
Additionally, applications are available for interested youth aged 17-20 to become a Youth Advisory Board member. More information can be found at www.statefarmyab.com.
Doug Griffith, Regional Public Affairs (724) 743-4961
State Farm and its affiliates are the largest provider of car insurance in the U.S. and is a leading insurer in Canada. In addition to providing auto insurance quotes, their 17,800 agents and more than 65,000 employees serve 81 million policies and accounts - more than 79 million auto, home, life and health policies in the United States and Canada, and nearly 2 million bank accounts. Commercial auto insurance, along with coverage for renters, business owners, boats and motorcycles, is also available. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company is the parent of the State Farm family of companies. State Farm is ranked No. 37 on the Fortune 500 list of largest companies. For more information, please visit http://www.statefarm.com or in Canada http://www.statefarm.ca.
The State Farm Youth Advisory Board is a diverse group of 30 youth, ages 17-20, who were chosen through a competitive process to lead and oversee this $5 million/year signature service-learning initiative. The Youth Board identified the issues, issued competitive grants and will now provide technical assistance, communication and oversight to site grantees.
