That club that does that fake car crash thing” or …

“The kids who are against drunk driving or something” or …

“Those people who hang out with the resource officer all the time…”

These are all popular conceptions of the SADD Club: Students Against Destructive Decisions. The SADD Club utilizes help from local police departments and citizens of Dare County to show students, teachers and the public ways to live productive lives and how to avoid harmful choices.

The organization was created in 1981 in Wayland, Massachusetts, as Students Against Driving Drunk. It has become the “nation’s leading peer-to-peer youth education and prevention organization,” according to SADD.org. First Flight’s club was founded in 2005 when the school opened and is advised by resource officer and Dare County Sheriff’s Department Corporal Billy Essick.

Essick has been the adviser of the club since the second year, and last year he won the Adviser of the Year title for the state.
Over the years, the club has grown through word of mouth and by students having an increasing interest in the activities of SADD.

“I took on a position of leadership because SADD is an important club to me and our school,” said senior Sara Munson, who joined SADD in her sophomore year and is now co-president of the club. “I want us to all work together to help our peers and also make a difference in the lives of the younger students in our community.”

Members of the group are encouraged to exhibit positive behaviors in all aspects of their lives in order to motivate others to do the same. One way the organization teaches students to do this is through the SADD conference in Raleigh in November.
The First Flight and Manteo groups attend the conference together each year. SADD “chapters,” as the clubs are called, get together from all over North Carolina and go through education courses about topics such as drunk driving, substance abuse, abusive relationships and sex education.

Junior Haley Evans, another co-president, attends the conference each year to “improve my knowledge about substance abuse, and bring back those experiences to First Flight,” she said. The conference gives students an opportunity to meet other teenagers with similar interests, learn ways to improve their SADD chapter, and learn how to spread positivity at their schools.

The First Flight SADD Club has done fundraisers and worked with other groups such as the Kiwanis Club to raise money to attend the conference and to help causes around Dare County, such as the Bri Foundation.

Twelve-year-old Bri Blumenthal was hit and killed by an SUV in November while crossing Colington Road on her bicycle. The club worked to raise money for Bri’s father, Scotty, at a basketball game at home against Manteo in early December. The members raised about $150, which they then presented to Blumenthal to help the Bri Foundation purchase bike helmets.

Another event the SADD Club is known for taking part in is the mock car crash. This is a visual reminder of the dangers of drinking and driving that the club puts on before prom. The group partners with local garages to get wrecked cars in the back parking lot of the school. The local EMS brings an ambulance and stagemakeup to give the participating students the appearance of being injured, and one student acts dead.

The Dare Medflight helicopter makes an appearance and the local fire department brings the Jaws of Life to “cut” the students out of the car. Lastly, a local funeral home brings a hearse to put the “dead” person in and drives away with the student. This is an effort to show students what the effects of drunk driving are and what the consequences of it can be.

Junior Amy Wrenn can be reached at wrennam0825@daretolearn.org.