In June I was privileged to be able to speak at the SADD (Students Against Destructive Decisions) National Conference in Washington, D.C. and in July, at the FCCLA (Family Career, Community Leaders Of America) National Conference in San Antonio, TX. Each organization is led by incredibly committed, dynamic and compassionate youth. After attending these conferences I was really energized to go out and do even more and feeling that, with these youth leaders, our country’s future was in very good hands.
Each of the organizations convenes annually to share ideas, expose youth to innovative programs and motivational speakers, teach leadership skills and explore how to motivate and include more teens in their respective communities back home all across the U.S.
At the SADD convention my topic was “Friends Don’t Let Friends Drive Distracted – How to effectively speak up when experiencing distracted driving.” In addition to driving distraction-free ourselves we must speak up when others drive distracted. The workshop was hands-on and taught teens methods for successful intervention; the teens were able to practice those skills in the workshop to build their confidence about being able to successfully intervene when driven distracted by others.
At the FCCLA convention the topic was “Remembering Our Loved Ones – Using tragedy as a catalyst for change.” I was on a panel with three very inspirational young men whose lives have been forever changed by distracted driving – Logan Melgosa from Wisconsin who lost his brother and Will Craig from Kentucky and Tyler Presnell from Oregon, both of whom suffered life-altering injuries. Each of these young men speak out and tell their stories hoping that those stories will help keep others safe. As a panel we presented to 3 sessions and to more than 1700 teens. Judging by the feedback and comments, I know that many of the teens were affected by the presentation and will work in their communities to help end distracted driving.
View EndDD’s Facebook album of photos from the SADD convention.
View EndDD’s Facebook album of photos from the FCCLA convention.
Joel Feldman
Joel Feldman is the father of the late Casey Feldman and founder of the Casey Feldman Foundation and its sponsored project, EndDD.org. He has been a practicing attorney for 34 years and a shareholder in the law firm of Anapol Weiss in Philadelphia. He received a masters in counseling in 2013 and speaks throughout the U.S. and Canada to teens and adults, changing attitudes and behaviors through the science based, End Distracted Driving program. Joel also provides death notification training to law enforcement and the medical community. Joel can be reached at [email protected]
