Beyond Drivers' Education

The SFHS Alive at 25 Program took place on February 13, 2009. Additional details about this program are available at www.safetycenter.org.

February 13th was also our school S.W.A.P. Day.

The St. Francis High School Safety Team invited the Sacramento Safety Center to present a program for students and parents focused on helping teens drive safely. The 3.5-hour, interactive teen program is accompanied by a 3-hour, innovative program for parents. The cost of the course covers the class, a certificate of completion from the National Safety Council, and all learner materials.

All teen drivers or students who will begin to drive this year are encouraged to choose one of the available two dates. Although teens can enroll without the parent enrolling, it is more effective if parents also take the program to support their teen drivers. Teens/parents attending other schools are also welcome.

The Alive at 25 program provides lunch for students taking the program between 12:00-12:30pm with instruction beginning at 12:30 and ending at 4:00pm. The parent program serves lunch beginning at 12:30pm with their program beginning at 1:00pm and ending at 4:00pm. This allows students the time to get to SFHS if they are not coming with their parents in the morning for SWAP Day, and have everyone finish the program by 4:00pm.

*Alive at 25 Teen Program is highly interactive and specifically designed for 16 to 24-year-old drivers. Instructors use workbook exercises, interactive media segments, group discussions, role-playing activities, short lectures, and guest speakers to help young drivers develop convictions and strategies that will keep them safer on the road and change attitudes towards risk-taking behaviors including: speeding, drinking, distracted driving, road conditions, and peer pressure. Alive at 25 teaches young drivers to take control of situations by taking responsibility for their own driving behavior.

^Alive at 25 Parent Program uses discussion, exercises and video to help parents understand the unique risks and hazards that teen drivers face. The parent program helps parents to understand their role in developing safe, responsible teen drivers. Topics include: reasons for risky behavior, parent as a role model, Graduated Drivers Licensing restrictions and California traffic laws that impact teenagers, and creating an effective parent/teen driver contract.