OAKVILLE, Ontario, Sept. 04, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- School is back and so is MADD Canada with a powerful new School Assembly Program to educate students about the risks and consequences of impaired driving.
Beginning this week, MADD Canada School Outreach Representatives will travel the province to deliver the 2019-2020 School Assembly Program to students in Grades 7 – 12. The program, titled Over the Edge, talks to students about the devastation that can result when someone makes a single decision to drive after drinking or doing drugs, and emphasizes the importance of never driving impaired or riding with an impaired driver.
The program’s province-wide tour is being highlighted with a special screening at St. Mary Catholic Elementary School on Friday.
Media are welcome to attend the screening and speak with special guests, students and staff.
| Date: | Friday, September 6, 2019 at 9:30 a.m. | |
| Location: | St. Mary Catholic Elementary School, 75 Greenside Dr., Nobleton, ON, L0G 1N0 | |
| Guests: | Michelle Zambri, Agency Manager, Vaughan Allstate Agency | |
| Dawn Regan, Chief Operating Officer, MADD Canada |
Road crashes are the number one cause of death among Canadian youth, and alcohol and/or drugs are involved in more than half of those crashes. Every year, MADD Canada produces a new School Assembly Program to educate students in Grades 7 – 12 about the risks of impaired driving.
With the support of National Sponsors Allstate Insurance Company of Canada and Westcan Bulk Transport, and Provincial Sponsor LCBO, MADD Canada will deliver about 1,400 presentations at Ontario schools, reaching hundreds of thousands of students.
Over The Edge shows the story of 17-year-old Sam, who moves back to her hometown to live with her Dad while her Mom travels for work. At a party to celebrate Sam’s homecoming, she reunites with her two best friends, Kat and Adam, and meets Kat’s friend, Steve. The group catches up while drinking and smoking cannabis. Things quickly get out of hand when Kat divulges a secret, and Sam and Adam leave. Knowing she shouldn’t drive, Sam calls her Dad to pick them up. The next morning, Sam and her Dad decide to go fishing. On the way, Sam gets a text from Kat saying that Steve is driving impaired. Sam and her Dad agree to pick Kat up at a nearby gas station, and Sam calls the police to report Steve’s impaired driving. Suddenly, a crash happens, changing all of their lives forever. After that fictional story concludes, viewers see interviews with real-life victims of impaired driving who talk about their loved ones who were killed or injured in crashes.
To see a clip of the new program, visit the School Programs page on the MADD Canada web site at: https://madd.ca/pages/programs/youth-services/school-programs/ .
To RSVP for the event or to arrange an interview with a MADD Canada spokesperson, contact:
Deb Kelly, MADD Canada Communications Manager, 905-829-8805, ext. 240.